A 23-year-old Hindu Raksha Dal worker was shot dead during a confrontation over a disputed plot in Ghaziabad’s Sahibabad area on Friday afternoon, while police detained the alleged shooter and recovered a revolver from the scene.
The incident took place near a police station on GT Road, outside an old banquet hall in front of MMX Mall. According to the police account cited in the report, the property had been divided into plots and one of the disputed parcels is in the name of the wife of Hindu Raksha Dal national president Pinky Chaudhary. Ayush, a resident of Sanjay Colony in Delhi’s Gokulpuri, was reportedly staying at the site to look after the property and was also associated with the organisation.
The dispute concerns the land adjoining the plot. Police said Chaudhary’s side considers the adjoining parcel to be green-belt land, while Nomita Sharma claims that the land belongs to her. The disagreement had continued between the two sides before the confrontation on Friday.
Police said Chaudhary’s son Surya had reached the plot with several associates to oversee work when Rahul Sahni, described as an acquaintance of Sharma, arrived to conduct a measurement. An argument followed and members of both sides allegedly came to blows.
Surya alleged that Sahni opened fire repeatedly and that one bullet struck Ayush in the chest. Surya and his associates then caught Sahni, took his revolver and beat him, according to the account. Police took Ayush to a nearby hospital, where doctors declared him dead.
Sahni gave a different account of the incident. He said he had gone to the site for a measurement and was attacked by Surya and his associates. According to his version, the group tried to snatch his revolver, during which the trigger was pressed and a shot was fired. He said the bullet hit Ayush and that he was subsequently assaulted, suffering a serious injury and a fracture to one leg.
Rijul, deputy commissioner of police for Trans-Hindon, said police had received information about the firing and confirmed that Ayush died after being shot. The preliminary investigation indicated that one shot had been fired, the officer said. Sahni has been detained and admitted to hospital for treatment of his injuries.
The incident places a property-boundary dispute alongside questions of site control, land measurement and the status of adjoining land in a densely developed part of Ghaziabad. Police said a case would be registered and further action would follow. The investigation will establish the sequence of events, the ownership and land-use claims involved, and responsibility for the shooting and subsequent assault.
