Man arrested for firing at Delhi police ACP’s 17th floor Noida flat

A 32-year-old man was arrested on Saturday for allegedly firing at a top Delhi Police officer’s flat in Jaypee Kosmos Society along the Noida-Greater Noida Expressway

A 32-year-old man was arrested on Saturday for allegedly firing at a top Delhi Police officer’s flat in Jaypee Kosmos Society along the Noida-Greater Noida Expressway on Friday night. The man claimed that he did not intend to hurt anyone and that he was testing his gun, said police.

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The suspect was identified as Puneet Shisodia, a marketing manager at a private Noida hospital and a resident in the same society. The suspect said that he had fired in the air from his licenced revolver from a moving vehicle “just for fun”. He is fond of guns and often posted pictures and videos with them on social media, including over TikTok, said police, adding that no recording of the Friday incident was found in his accounts.

The bullet struck the flat of Delhi’s Vivek Vihar assistant commissioner of police (ACP) Mayank Bansal who lives with his parents on the 17th floor.

Akhilesh Kumar, additional commissioner of police (law and order), Gautam Budh Nagar, said that on Friday, Mayank Bansal’s mother Sunita Bansal filed a complaint in Expressway police station. The complainant informed that an unidentified person had opened fire and the bullet pierced the flat’s window and hit the ceiling at 12.48 am. The police registered a case under Section 307 (attempt to murder) and Section 427 (mischief) of IPC and launched an investigation.

Kumar said the police scanned CCTV cameras and found the suspect had fired shots from a moving black Mahindra Scorpio. The team questioned eye-witnesses and identified the suspect as Shisodia, a resident of Tower KM30.

“The police were informed that his Scorpio was spotted near Panchsheel underpass on Saturday morning. A police team reached the spot and arrested him,” he said.

The suspect said that he had no intention to harm anyone. “I had fired in the air to test my revolver,” police quoted him as saying.

Additional CP Kumar said that the suspect had no criminal record.

“Police investigation showed that he is fond of Tiktok (video sharing social media app). He poses and shoots videos with revolver. His action could have harmed people,” he said. At the time of the incident, the suspect was not attempting to capture the video of the shooting, a police officer clarified.

Police said the the Bansals and Shisodia did not know each other. Police recovered the licenced revolver along with 106 live bullets from Shisodia’s possession. “We will recommend cancellation of his licence for its misuse,” said additional CP.

The suspect was produced in court and sent to judicial custody.

ACP Mayank Bansal said that he was not present at the flat when the incident took place. “My family had heard six gunshots. There are two bullet marks in our flat. I have received information that Noida police have arrested the suspect. The court will decide if he is the same person who committed the crime,” he said.