Teen guns down gardener over closed gate, arrested

A 37-year-old gardener and caretaker was allegedly shot dead by a teenager following a heated argument over closing the gate of a property in South Delhi’s Fatehpur Beri early on Monday morning, the police said.

The gardener, identified as Santlal, was shot in the chest. He died on the spot, they said.

The police arrested the accused, Piyush Yadav (19), and recovered the weapon used in the crime from his residence. Piyush was working as a real estate agent in Chhatarpur, Phase 2, here, an official said.

According to the police, the incident took place around 2 am near Shamshan Ghat in Dera village here. They received information that some women were crying loudly in the neighborhood, following which they reached the spot.

Upon reaching, the police found a man with a gunshot injury near the cremation ground. A forensic and crime team reached the spot and collected evidence. The police recovered an empty cartridge from the crime scene. The body was sent to Safdarjung Hospital for post-mortem examination.

Prima facie, it was revealed that the accused had an argument with the gardener over the closing of gate of the property. In a fit of rage, the accused allegedly shot Santlal, the cop said.