Ghaziabad: A 25-year-old man was allegedly shot dead by a neighbour after a heated argument, which began with the victim’s nephews getting slapped by the accused after they had honked for passage past a car parked in the middle of the road in Loni Border on Sunday night.While the main accused, Sonu, is on the run, his wife and father were arrested for allegedly joining the confrontation with their neighbour Vipin Prajapati (25), who worked at a nearby factory.Vipin’s brother Azad, who lodged a complaint at Loni Border police station, said the family had gathered for the naming ceremony of his uncle’s granddaughter and a dinner at a relative’s house, around 50 metres away. Around 11pm, Vipin and another relative, Gaurav, dropped a family member at the main road. On their way back, Vipin called home and asked two 15-year-old nephews to pick them up on separate motorcycles.“As the boys rode towards the main road, they found Sonu and three others had parked their car in the middle of the road. The two boys honked repeatedly, asking them to move the vehicle. But Sonu instead started abusing them and even slapped both boys,” Azad said.The teenagers reached Vipin and narrated the incident. Knowing Sonu personally — their houses are 250m apart — Vipin decided to question him instead of letting the matter pass. As Vipin and Gaurav rode back with the two nephews, they found Sonu standing outside his house. Once again, the road was blocked by his car.“When Vipin honked again, Sonu stopped them and began arguing aggressively. Soon, his wife and father joined the confrontation. In the middle of the argument, Sonu suddenly whipped out a country-made pistol and fired twice. One bullet struck the mobile phone in Gaurav’s hand, while the other hit Vipin in the stomach,” Azad said.Family members rushed to the spot and took Vipin to GTB Hospital in Delhi, where he died during treatment.DCP (rural) Surendra Nath Tiwari said an FIR was registered against Sonu, his father Brahampal and wife Asha under sections 103 (murder), 109 (attempt to murder), 126 (wrongful restraint), 352 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of peace) and 3(5) (criminal acts done by several persons) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.“We have arrested Brahampal and Asha. Teams are searching for Sonu. We hope to arrest him soon,” Tiwari said.Sonu, according to cops, has a criminal record. In 2020, he was arrested by a team from Loni Border police station for allegedly opening fire on a biker in another road rage case.
