Ghaziabad: A 36-year-old manager of Punjab & Sind Bank (PSB) was allegedly shot dead by a security guard, an ex-serviceman, following a verbal altercation inside the bank’s Balram Nagar branch at Loni Border on Monday afternoon, said Ghaziabad police officials, adding that both the prime suspect and his accomplice were arrested by late evening.
Senior officials said the guard was miffed over the issue of leaves and salary.
Police identified the deceased as Abhishek Kumar, originally from Patna, Bihar, who resided at a high-rise at Bhopra near Sahibabad.
The suspect guard was identified as Ravinder Hooda, a resident of Mansoorpur in the nearby Baghpat district, said police, adding that the guard and his accomplice fled soon after the incident that took place around 1.15pm.
“During initial investigation, police learned that the guard was absent from duty on Monday. After this, branch manager Kumar called him in the morning. Later, the guard arrived at the branch around 1pm and asked for the release of his double-barrel gun, which was deposited in the branch,” Gyan Prakash Rai, assistant commissioner of police (ACP) (Ankur Vihar circle), told HT.
After getting his weapon, the guard went to the manager’s cabin, said ACP Rai. “… Thereafter, the guard and the branch manager exchanged words, and the guard soon fired at him. A single shot hit the manager’s chest. Afterward, the guard and a man accompanying him walked out of the branch with the weapon.”
The ACP said that branch staff and locals rushed the injured manager to GTB Hospital in Delhi, where he died “during treatment”.
CTV footage from a camera installed near the branch building shows captured the two walking out of the bank with a gun
Officials said that the security guard was employed by a security agency, not by the bank.
“The guard is an ex-serviceman who retired in 2018. He was annoyed over the issue of leaves. The weapon used in the crime is licensed. We formed several teams to trace and arrest the guard. If we find involvement of any more people behind the incident, we will act accordingly,” said deputy commissioner of police Surendra Nath Tiwary.
In the evening, ACP Rai told HT that the police teams arrested the suspect security guard and also his accomplice identified as Sheesh Pal, 48 from the jungles of Lal Bagh.
“The prime suspect security guard said that he was miffed with the manager over leave and salary issues. The second suspect, Sheesh Pal, is the security guard’s domestic help who accompanied him during the murder at the bank,” the ACP said.
“Both have been booked for murder at Loni Border police station. We have registered an FIR for murder based on a complaint from the branch cashier,” he added.