A GOVERNMENT employee allegedly shot his wife, leading to her death, before taking his own life with the licensed gun in their apartment on Judges Bungalow Road in Ahmedabad, police said on Thursday.
The couple was due to travel abroad on a holiday and had returned from dinner at an aunt’s place when the incident happened late evening on Wednesday, police said.
Yashrajsinh Durgeshsinh Gohil, 30, who had recently joined the Gujarat Maritime Board (GMB) as an officer, married Rajeshwari, 30, around two months ago.
Yashrajsinh is the nephew of Congress MP Shaktisinh Gohil — his brother’s son.
The incident took place between 11:30 pm and 12 am on Wednesday, at the couple’s apartment on the fifth floor of NRI Tower, sources said.
Sources said a GVK-EMRI–108 ambulance had been called at NRI Tower when Rajeshwari was shot. When an Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) reached the couple’s apartment, the woman was lying on the floor and the paramedic could not find a pulse. The EMT then stepped away to make a call to a physician at the head office to take further instructions. At that point, she heard a gunshot and went back to find that Yashrajsinh had allegedly shot himself with a firearm, the sources said.
Manish Doshi, spokesperson of the Gujarat Pradesh Congress Committee, described the incident as “extremely unfortunate and shocking for the family and for all of us.”
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He told mediapersons that Yashraj had recently cleared the GMB exam and joined as an officer. “The young man was also preparing for the UPSC exams. The couple was to travel abroad for a holiday, ahead of which they had gone for dinner to his aunt’s place. This happened when they came back home from dinner. He had a habit of brandishing his revolver and it seems that the gun accidentally went off and a bullet hit his wife. He immediately called an ambulance. The ambulance got delayed in locating the flat, so he went downstairs to fetch them. When the 108 team reached the flat, they declared his wife dead. Apparently, in a state of shock, he shot himself,” Doshi claimed.
The couple was cremated in their native village of Limda in Bhavnagar in the presence of MP Shaktisinh Gohil, who is “in a state of shock”, said Doshi.
Sources said the paramedic promptly informed the police, who soon reached the spot and sent the bodies to Ahmedabad Civil Hospital for post-mortem examination. An accidental death report was primarily registered at the Vastrapur police station.
Assistant Commissioner of Police J D Brahmbhatt of A Division said, “When police reached NRI Tower, they found the bodies of the couple, whose deaths had been caused by gunshots. The incident took place in apartment number 502. The couple had gone to a relative’s home for dinner and returned home at night. Later, Yashrajsinh went to his mother’s room and told her that a bullet fired from his revolver had hit his wife and they would have to go to hospital.”
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Brahmbhatt added, “An ambulance was called and a paramedic declared the woman dead. The paramedic then went to the living room to inform the control room that the woman was found dead and asked them to send the police. Yashrajsinh shot himself with the revolver. His mother and the paramedic, hearing the noise, went to the bedroom and found him on the ground.” The officer said the revolver is a licensed weapon and that it had been sent for forensic tests. He said, “The police reached the spot around 12 am. Further investigation is underway and it is only after the forensic, ballistics and postmortem reports that we will be able to know what exactly transpired.”
Doshi described Yashrajsinh as an “enthusiastic young man” whom he had met. “There were only two issues – that he always kept his revolver with him and that he was fond of fast cars. Shaktsinhji would often rebuke him about this but he would say he loved speeding,” the spokesperson said.
Further investigation is underway, police said.
