NEW DELHI: A 55-year-old retired
naval official, who was into
real estate business, was shot dead by a man following an altercation in the parking area of an apartment in Delhi's
Dwarka area, police said on Monday. The deceased,
Balraj Deshwal, who was a leading seaman in the Indian Navy, was shot in his face from a "very close range", a senior police officer said.
The incident took place when Deshwal, who was staying with his family in Sector 12 of Dwarka, was having a conversation with his friend in Dwarka's Sector 23 area on Sunday night, police said.
They said that a bullet hit Deshwal's mouth and he was declared brought dead at a hospital.
The accused, identifies as
Pradeep Khokar, is absconding and several teams have been formed to arrest him.
"The apartment, where the incident took place, was constructed by Deshwal and his business partners. Khokar had purchased one of the flats.
"Around 8.30 pm on Sunday, Khokar entered the parking space when he looked angry and began an altercation with Deshwal, which led to a scuffle and later he fired at him," police said.
The accused owed around Rs 5 lakh to Deshwal, police said, adding that eyewitnesses told police that the altercation was not related to that issue.
Police said that the body has been sent for postmortem.
A case has been registered in this regard, police said.