2 held for opening fire at Sohna private hospital

Two suspects were arrested for opening multiple rounds of fire on a private hospital on Sohna Bypass Road near Ambedkar Chowk on Wednesday, police officials aware of the matter said.

Siddhant Jain, deputy commissioner of police (DCP) (south), said that the arrested persons have been identified as the prime suspect, Mukesh Kumar, 33, and his associate, Parveen Kumar, 32, both residents of Sanp in Nangli in Sohna.

The incident was a fallout of a rivalry between the hospital owner, Bharat Saini, and Mukesh over a tender of a private university parking lot in Sohna.

According to police, the firing took place at around 2.15am. Two hospital employees Abhishek Kumar (23) and Mohammad Afroz (22) dodged the bullets that passed just by a few inches above their heads while they were sitting inside the pharmacy located in the front of the hospital, they added.

Investigators said that three bullets pierced through two walls of the pharmacy, one of which was made of glass panes. Both Kumar and Afroz ran inside a room and locked themselves up. They waited for 10 minutes before coming out and informed Saini who alerted the police.

Saini said that two women employees were also inside the hospital when the incident took place. However, no patient was undergoing treatment at that time.

“Four police teams, including those from the crime branch, reached the spot soon,” he said.

Jain said, “Mukesh was the one who opened fire, and we have recovered the pistol and car used in the crime.”

He added, “Saini owned a large piece of land near the university. There was a clause in the tender that the applicant must own a land, which helped Saini bag it. However, Mukesh started putting pressure on Saini to give the management half of the parking space, which he had turned down.”

The DCP said that Mukesh threatened Saini a few times but he didn’t budge, and so, he opened fire on the hospital.

On Saini’s complaint, a first hand information report under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code and Arms Act was registered at City Sohna police station.