Jeweller shot, found dead in car on NH-58

GHAZIABAD: A 34-year-old trader was found dead with a bullet wound in his chest inside his car on the NH-58 bypass near Raj Nagar extension on Saturday evening. Karunakar Verma owned a jewellery store in Sahibabad's Shalimar Garden area.
Karunakar's wallet, two mobile phones and licensed revolver have allegedly gone missing from the car. However, Rs 50,000 cash which was inside one of his trouser pockets, was found intact.An FIR under sections 302 and 394 of the IPC has been registered with Sihani gate police.
Following a postmortem conducted on Saturday night, Karunakar, who is survived by his wife and three kids, was cremated on Sunday. The family lives in Shyam Park Extension of Sahibabad.
According to police, the car was spotted by constables on patrol duty around 8.15 pm. Karunakar was on the driver's seat, his body tilted slightly to the left, said cops. Police said the car's ignition was on and air-conditioner running. The left rear windowpane was smashed. After being informed by police, the deceased's family reached the spot around 9.30 pm. Karunakar was taken to a private hospital where he was declared brought dead.
"Karunakar left home at 4 pm saying he had some work. He had promised to return within 10-15 minutes. After he didn't return as promised, police called to inform us that a car had been found on the bypass. He did not have any enmity with anyone, nor were there any old feuds in the family," deceased's father Gautam Verma told TOI.
Karunakar's family said initially, he did not respond to calls though his mobile phone kept ringing. "After a while, we found both his cell phones switched off. Police told us they had traced our address through the car's registration number," Vipul Verma, the deceased's cousin, said.
Police said it could either be a case of murder or suicide. "Though no weapon was found, it could be possible that the gun was stolen from the vehicle after the victim committed suicide. The postmortem report has confirmed the cause of the death as injury from gunshot. We have asked for the mobile call records of the victim. This could throw some further light into investigations," Ranvijay Singh, DSP, Ghaziabad, said.