3 min readDehradunMar 31, 2026 05:32 AM IST
The shootout in Dehradun on Monday, during which a stray bullet struck and killed a retired Brigadier, was the result of a prior dispute between two groups and not due to road rage, police said. Four men have been arrested in connection with the case.
Brigadier Mukesh Kumar Joshi (retired), 74, was out for a morning walk when a stray bullet from the shootout struck him.
Police said the accused had attempted to portray the firing incident as a case of road rage, but that it actually stemmed from a prior dispute. “The previous night, a conflict had broken out between a group of youths and bar staff over reducing the bill at a bar. During this altercation, bar staff damaged the rear windshield of the other party’s Scorpio vehicle,” said Senior Superintendent of Police, Parmendra Dobhal.
The following morning, when the bar staff were seen travelling in a Fortuner vehicle, the other group chased them in their car. During the attempt to intercept the vehicle, both sides engaged in firing, Dobhal said.
The bar where the initial altercation took place has been shut and sealed, and a report has been sent for the cancellation of its licence, the SSP said.
After the firing, the car in which the bar staff were travelling lost control and crashed into a tree near a government primary school. The group of youths chasing them then assaulted the bar staff. Two people were injured and subsequently taken to the hospital by their companions. The group of youths fled the scene, police said.
The four people arrested by police were Aditya Chaudhary, who was in the Scorpio; Rohit Kumar and Mohammad Akhlaq, who were in the Fortuner; and the owner of the bar, Sandeep Kumar. Police are continuing efforts to identify and arrest the remaining individuals who were in the Scorpio vehicle.
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SSP Dobhal said that during questioning, Rohit Kumar and Mohammad Akhlaq initially claimed it was a road rage incident. However, upon further interrogation, they revealed the prior bar dispute.
After the Fortuner crashed near Johri village, the occupants had fled into the forest, abandoning their weapons. They later misled the police by calling it a road rage incident, officers alleged.
Based on their statements, police recovered two country-made pistols and four live cartridges from nearby bushes.
