A head constable of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has been accused of firing a gunshot that hit a photographer at a ceremony on Sunday, killing him on the spot.
Dilip Sinh Parmar, the accused, was attending the sacred thread ceremony of Satyam Joshi, the son of his neighbour, Shailesh. During the ceremony, he fired his .12-bore double-barrel gun in the air, killing photographer Jayantibhai Dantani, who was capturing the ceremony on video. The incident took place at Kailash Tenements at Vejalpur at around 6.45 pm on Sunday.
"A case of murder has been lodged against Parmar and he will be produced in court on Tuesday," deputy commissioner of police (zone 1) Brijesh Kumar Jha said. The police recovered empty cartridges from the site of the incident and seized Parmar's gun.
A source said a relative of Joshi had asked Parmar to fire a gunshot in the air. While fulfilling this wish, Dantani was accidentally hit. The initial reaction to the sound of the gunshot was that it may have been a firecracker's explosion. However, the situation turned into one of confusion and tension after Dantani was seen lying in a pool of blood, having been hit on the left side of the head. He was rushed to hospital, where he was declared brought dead.
Parmar has served as a head constable with the CBI for more than 20 years and has been in Ahmedabad for the last 15 years. He has had a licensed gun for 10 years. Dantani and his brother Navin, who run a digital studio, had been hired by Joshi to shoot the ceremony on video and had been referred by their maternal aunt, Leela.
