Retired army havildar allegedly shot dead in sleep by brother-in-law

Gurugram: A retired army havildar was allegedly shot dead by his brother-in-law at his Basai Enclave residence in Sector-10. The incident happened just after midnight on Sunday while Harvinder Kataria (37) was asleep with his wife Sarita (34), and their children.

According to police, Harvinder and Sarita got into a domestic spat on Sunday night, following which the ex-serviceman’s wife called her brother Naveen Kumar (22), asking him to come over.

“We have come to know that the couple fought over some domestic issue, following which Sarita called Naveen to come over. After dinner, Havinder, Sarita and the children went to sleep in their bedroom on the third floor. Sarita woke up around 12:45am on hearing a loud bang. She discovered her husband lying in a pool of blood, with Naveen standing over him holding a gun. The accused fled the scene soon after,” a senior police officer said.

An empty .32 bore cartridge was recovered from the bedroom by forensic experts. The bullet injury behind Harvinder’s left ear, and clotted blood on the bed suggests he was shot point blank during his sleep, police informed.

According to Rajinder Singh, assistant commissioner of police (City), Sarita hailed from Dighal village in Rohtak. “Naveen reached Basai on Sunday night to escort Sarita back home because of her spat with Harvinder,” he said.

After Naveen reached his sister’s house, Harvinder allegedly taunted him by saying that he hates people from Dighal. “Perhaps the comment infuriated Naveen and he shot Harvinder dead. He was actually sleeping on a mattress on the floor in the couple’s bedroom,” he said.

Singh said that the couple probably quarrelled over domestic issues quite frequently. “Naveen fled the scene on Harvinder’s motorcycle. We are trying to apprehend him at the earliest. It has become clear from the autopsy that this is a murder ,” ACP Singh said.

Police also said that some of the neighbours were alerted by a gunshot just after midnight. Investigators are now trying to ascertain the exact sequence of events which transpired on Sunday night. Sarita, along with her 10-year-old daughter, and seven-year-old son got into a state of shock and were unable to give any proper statement to the police. Sarita initially told police that her husband died by suicide, but revealed that she saw her brother with a gun.

Sarita informed her other family members and rushed Harvinder to government hospital in Sector-10 with help of neighbours. He was pronounced dead on arrival. By the time Harvinder’s cousin Prem Kataria reached the house, neighbours had already rushed the deceased to hospital.

“Harvinder retired from the army around eight months ago. He received a hefty retiral benefit with which he purchased a flat near Basai. He also owned 1.5 bigha of agricultural land in Basai, along with a two-acre plot in Rohtak,” Prem said. He could not fathom why the couple fought that night and said, “There was no serious issue between them. They led an overall peaceful life.”

An FIR was registered under section 302 (murder) of the Indian Penal Code against Naveen at the Sector-10 police station on Monday evening, based on the complaint filed by Harvinder’s nephew Rupesh Kataria.

“Police are investigating the case from all possible angles. Nothing yet is clear about the sequence of events on Sunday night,” said Preet Pal Sangwan, assistant commissioner of police (crime).