Noida: A man was arrested on Wednesday following a gunfight for allegedly shooting a 25-year-old to death in Sakipur village, Greater Noida. In a separate gunfight later that night, a second accused was arrested in the case. Two other accused, including the arrested accused’s mother, are on the run, police said.Police said they received information around 12.45am on Wednesday that a man had been shot dead on the street in a residential area in Sakipur village. A team from Surajpur police station reached the spot and rushed the man to a nearby hospital, where he was declared dead on arrival. He was later identified as Sajan Bhati, a resident of Sakipur village. The incident occurred outside Bhati’s house.Initial investigation indicated that Bhati had an argument with some of his neighbours while returning from a wedding around 12.30am that night. Eyewitnesses told Bhati’s family that his neighbour Mangesh had shot him three times.A few days prior, Bhati got into a dispute with Mangesh and his family. Neighbours said that Bhati was arguing with Mangesh’s family over the garbage in their drain for some time. On Monday, Bhati allegedly set fire to the garbage outside their house, which led to objections from Mangesh’s mother Veermati.Early on Wednesday, Mangesh, his brother Veer Pal, Veermati and another man identified as Sripal allegedly ambushed Bhati outside his house over the garbage-burning incident. Tensions escalated quickly and Mangesh allegedly shot Bhati three times before all four fled the spot in a car.An FIR was registered against the accused under BNS sections 103(1) (murder), 115(2) (voluntarily causing hurt), 352 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of peace), 351(3) (criminal intimidation) and 3(5) (common intention).“Acting on the information, police teams were deployed to trace the accused. During checking near the MoserBaer roundabout, officers spotted a suspicious car and signalled it to stop. The accused attempted to flee towards a forested stretch along a railway line,” an officer said.When cornered, Mangesh allegedly opened fire at the cops, who retaliated in self-defence. Mangesh was injured and subsequently taken into custody. An illegal pistol, live and spent cartridges, and an i20 car were recovered from his possession.During similar checks near the MTech tri-junction on the Tilpata-Gaur City road later that night, police spotted Veer Pal approaching on a bike. He also opened fire at the cops to flee and was similarly injured in the ensuing gunfight before being taken into custody.Search is underway for the other accused, police added.
