Argument over car keys led to Gurugram shooting

The additional district and sessions judge’s personal security officer (PSO), who was arrested for allegedly shooting the judge’s wife and son four days ago, did so in a fit of rage, police said on Wednesday, ruling out theories of harassment by the judge’s family, marital discord and any religious issue.

Sumit Kuhar, deputy commissioner of police (crime), said an argument over car keys near Arcadia Market in Gurugram’s Sector 49 provoked head constable Mahipal Singh, 32, to allegedly shoot judge Krishan Kant’s 38-year-old wife Ritu Garg and 18-year-old son Dhruv .

Kuhar said the accused had been disturbed for the past few months regarding an investment in a Ponzi scheme and had purchased a car, which was attached to a private cab aggregator.

“When the victims visited the market, they had asked the driver to wait near the car. But when they returned, he could not be found there. They tried reaching him on his phone, but he did not respond. When he returned, they asked him to hand over the car keys and questioned him about his whereabouts, which left him irritated. In the ensuing altercation, he thrashed the boy and when his mother intervened, he took out his service revolver and shot the boy, before shooting the mother,” said Kuhar.

Mahipal tried to put the boy’s body in the car after shooting him allegedly to destroy evidence, but after failing to do so in two attempts, he fled from the spot.

“We have contacted people on social media who had recorded the incident and have made them witnesses in the case. We collected CCTV footage from several spots which corroborate the incident,” Kuhar said.