Ex-Tech Mahindra executive shot dead over dog, parking dispute during Diwali visit to Faridabad

A 43-year-old software executive who had returned from Singapore to Faridabad to spend Diwali with his family was shot dead by his neighbour on Friday night after a dispute over a dog and parking turned deadly, according to a Hindustan Times report published on Sunday.

Police said the accused fired at least 19 rounds at close range, with at least nine bullets hitting the victim.

The victim, Paramjith Dhankhar, was visiting his family for Diwali. He worked for Vietnam-based FPT Software Company Limited at its Singapore office and had earlier worked as a senior executive at Tech Mahindra.

The accused, 42-year-old Mohan Sharma, was arrested from Ballabgarh on Saturday. Police recovered his licensed handgun, 59 live cartridges kept inside the bag used to store the weapon, and two magazines, one of which was partially loaded.

What happened in Faridabad

Dhankhar and Sharma lived on different floors of the same four-storey building in Sector 21C.

According to Dhankhar’s relatives, the two families had been arguing for around three months over Sharma’s German Shepherd pup allegedly defecating in the parking area on the ground floor.

The dispute had also reached the police. A week before the shooting, Sharma allegedly broke one of the three stilt entrance gates Dhankhar had constructed to avoid a dispute, following which a police complaint was filed, a relative said.

On Friday morning, police summoned Sharma to the Ankhir police post over Dhankhar’s complaint. The complaint alleged verbal abuse and damage to the entrance gate after the family objected to the dog defecating in the parking area. It also mentioned a dispute over the opening of the underground water tank.

A relative said Sharma had threatened Dhankhar after the argument at the police post.

“My cousin also reached there. I had got to know from my brother that Sharma had misbehaved with the police too inside the station. He issued there that he would teach him a lesson,” the relative told Hindustan Times.

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Dhankhar was called downstairs

Around 8.30 pm on Friday, Sharma allegedly asked Dhankhar to come to the parking area and move his car. According to another relative, Sharma said the matter had been resolved and that he did not want any further conflict.

As soon as Dhankhar went downstairs, he was shot, his family said.

A senior police officer involved in the investigation said Dhankhar tried to save himself, but Sharma opened fire at close range.

“He emptied one magazine and then loaded another one and emptied it too. Overall, he had fired at least 19 rounds, with at least nine hitting Dhankhar. There were multiple bullet marks on Dhankhar’s Mahindra XUV 7XO, floor and walls of the stilt area,” the officer said.

Pinta Ram, an eyewitness who lives on the first floor, said he heard several loud bangs one after another.

“Within seconds, we all heard screams and rushed downstairs to find that Sharma had shot Dhankhar dead,” Ram said.

The neighbours rushed Dhankhar to a private hospital, where doctors declared him dead on arrival, Ram said.

Suspect arrested the next day

Police arrested Sharma from Dealer Chowk in Ballabgarh on Saturday.

Varun Kumar Dahiya, assistant commissioner of police (crime), said Sharma would be taken on police remand.

“He will be taken on police remand. His wife and children have also been made accused for criminal conspiracy but were yet to be arrested,” Dahiya said.

An FIR was registered at Surajkund police station on Saturday. Sharma, his wife and two children were named under sections 103 (1) (murder), 109(1) (attempt to murder), 351(2) (criminal intimidation), 3(5) (common intention) and 61 (criminal conspiracy) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.

Police suspect murder was planned

Police and Dhankhar’s family suspect that Sharma may have planned the killing because he allegedly went downstairs carrying the handgun and two loaded magazines.

“When we reached the spot, the handgun holster, pistol and two magazines were recovered from the stilt area by police,” Manuj Bajaj, Dhankhar’s close friend, told HT.

Dhankhar is survived by his parents, wife and two children, an 18-year-old son and a 14-year-old daughter. They lived in the same building, while Sharma’s family lived on the second floor, police said.

Dhankhar had also planned to attend his nephew’s wedding in Faridabad on November 24, his family said.