GHAZIABAD: A 25-year-old youth was allegedly shot dead by two men here after he refused to give them a cigarette, police said today.
According to police, the duo allegedly responsible for the killing was nabbed today and thereafter confessed to having shot the youth, identified as one Nirmal.
Police said that the incident took place on July 1 in the Siyani Gate area when Nirmal refused to give a cigarette to Pradeep Kumar and Rahul, both drug addicts.
"On the night of July 1, Pradeep and Rahul were going to Ghaziabad and on the way saw Nirmal and asked him to give them a cigarette. As Nirmal didn't have any cigarettes, he told the two accused that he could not give them any," said a senior police officer, adding that Nirmal's response angered the duo and Pradeep then shot Nirmal with a country-made pistol.
The accused had then fled the spot while Nirmal was rushed to a local hospital where doctors declared him dead.
"Acting on a tip-off, we laid a trap and arrested Pradeep and Rahul this afternoon and recovered a country-made pistol, which is likely the murder weapon, and four cartridges from their possession," the officer added.
He said that Pradeep and Rahul told them that they had asked Nirmal for a cigarette but, when he failed to give them one, shot him in a fit of rage.
"The two accused are being interrogated to see if they have any criminal record," the officer said.