The details that stick are the small ones. A man spends years working abroad, comes home for a wedding, and is killed in the parking lot of his own building the next evening.
Police reconstructions agree on the broad outline. The SHO of Surajkund police station said the two neighbours frequently argued, and that Sharma opened fire after one such altercation. Police, Crime Branch and forensic teams reached the spot and recovered empty cartridges.
The sources disagree on how it started. One account says Dhankhar returned from the gym around 8 pm and found Sharma’s car parked in his designated spot. Another, based on the complaint by a family member named Shaurya, says Sharma rang the bell of their flat and asked Dhankhar to come down and move his car, and an argument followed in the parking lot. Newsgram’s version says Dhankhar asked Sharma to move. I haven’t seen the FIR itself, so I can’t say which is right.
Several outlets also mention a second source of friction. ThePrint’s sources say the two quarrelled over parking and over a pet dog’s toilet rounds in the parking area. The Times of India’s headline refers to a “family feud” and says the accused had abused Dhankhar’s son days before. These details come from sources and headlines, and nobody has confirmed them.
Dhankhar had worked at Tech Mahindra since 2003, according to Inshorts, and rose to head its Asia-Pacific business region before moving on. Open Magazine ran a piece on who he was. ThePrint says he flew into India on November 5 for a family wedding. Some outlets describe the trip as a Diwali homecoming, and others say it was for a nephew’s wedding. Those may both be true.
The early reports said Sharma had fled with his family. ANI reported a search was underway to nab him. By Saturday, that had changed. Faridabad police spokesperson Yash Pal told ThePrint that the Crime Branch, led by Inspector Anil Kumar, had arrested Sharma, and that police will seek his remand for questioning and evidence collection. Police have so far announced only Sharma’s arrest.
The weapon is an obvious question. Police say the pistol was licensed, which raises issues about how it was held and when it was used. I haven’t seen officials address that.
A Rediff headline says the man was shot dead after police allegedly dismissed a threat. I haven’t read the article, and I haven’t found police comment on it. If earlier complaints about Sharma were filed, that would matter a great deal. For now, it’s a claim I can’t verify.
A lot is open. We don’t know what the FIR says word for word, or whether a charge beyond murder has been added. We don’t know whether any earlier complaint against Sharma was filed, and what happened to it. And we haven’t heard from Sharma or his lawyer.
What we do know is simple and sad. A neighbourhood argument that many families have, over parking and a pet, ended with a man dead and a family in mourning. The court process will decide the rest.
