Doctor shot dead, wife escapes attack in Karnal

Karnal, Dec 27 (UNI) A known dentist was shot dead by a suspected thief while his wife escaped unhurt in the attack at their Urban Estate residence here early today.

Dr Ashvani Chaudhary(38) was shot dead by a thief who had come to commit burglary in the house. The police was working on all possible angles, SSP A S Chawla said.

A pall of gloom descended on the town as people kept thronging the deceased's house while shopkeepers kept their shutters down in markets around Nehru Place, where the doctor had his clinic.

The SSP said that according to the doctor's wife Rachna, the family had returned from a party around 1230 hrs at night and had straightaway gone to bed. However, after sometime, their two-year old son demanded milk.

When Rachna went into the kitchen to fetch the milk, she saw a man who opened fire at her. She escaped the bullet that struck the cupboard in the kitchen.

As she screamed, the thief escaped while Dr Chaudhary, hearing the fire shot, rushed outside to nab the man. But as he opened the door, the thief fired at him as well.

The bullet pierced through his right eye and he died on the spot, his father Mahender Singh Choudhary, who occupied the upper storey of the house said, the thief had apparently entered the house by cutting the iron grilles of a window.

Thieves normally do not carry .32 bore pistol and take an escape route rather than resorting to firing, the SSP pointed out.

''Why had he failed in his attempt on Rachna from a close range and why did he fire at the doctor from outside instead of running away, '' the SSP said.

Karnal MP Arvind Sharma, himself a dentist, has demanded immediate arrest of the killer.

Though the police promptly reached the spot and sniffer dogs were pressed into service, no breakthrough was in sight as yet.

UNI