Ghaziabad jeweller dies ‘testing’ gun he intended to purchase

A 42-year-old jeweller was killed after a licensed revolver that he was planning to buy allegedly went off accidentally. The victim was in his shop in city’s Chopla Market with a potential seller and checking the weapon on Thursday evening, the police said.

The police said it seems to be a case of accidental firing but will go through CCTV camera footage to confirm what led to the jeweller’s death.

According to the police, the victim Sanjeev Verma and his distant relative, Sunil Kumar, were at Verma’s jewellery shop when the incident occurred.

“Sunil needed money and he wanted to sell his licensed weapon. In the last few days, he had shown his weapon to different people in the hopes to sell it and had gone to the victim’s shop to show the revolver as well. Sunil’s jewellery shop is also nearby. During initial questioning and investigation, we found that the victim loaded a bullet in the weapon before the incident,” Satendra Kumar, station house officer, Kotwali police station, said.

“Soon after this, a bullet went off and hit Verma in his chest which led to his death. His body has been sent for an autopsy. Only one bullet went off from the weapon and has been recovered from the shop. Verma was probably checking the weapon figuring out how a shot is fired,” he added.

Till late Thursday night, the police were not sure about the exact sequence of events that lead to Verma’s death.

“So far, we have questioned the staff members employed at the victim’s shop. They told us that the two men were sitting away at some distance when the revolver fired a bullet and they could not see who actually fired it or whether it discharged accidentally,” Dharmendra Chauhan, Circle Officer (city 1), said.

“Only the CCTV camera footage will provide us with reliable clues about the incident. So far, we have not received any police complaint but legal action will be taken up. The weapon has been seized,” Chauhan added.

The Chopla Market is one of the busiest markets in old Ghaziabad city and houses a number of jewellery shops. The police said they have also roped in a forensic team to gather clues from the incident’s spot.