Woodland manager gunned down outside Ghaziabad home

Ghaziabad -  A senior manager with shoe and apparel company Woodland was killed Friday morning when two gunmen fired over a dozen shots at him outside his home in Indirapuram near the Indian capital and managed to escape in full view of horrified neighbours.

Nitin Sharma, 38, had returned after leaving his daughters Anshika (10) and Vanshika (6) at the Cambridge school in the locality when the two assailants rained bullets on him outside his home in Sector 4, Shakti Khand, in Ghaziabad bordering New Delhi, police said.

Sharma, Woodland assistant general manager, also leaves behind his wife Shalini.

Detailing what had happened, police officials said Sharma had stopped his Vitara car outside his home when the attack began. Two assailants came close and started firing at him; Nitin tried to take shelter inside the house but the hail of bullets followed him. One bullet hit the car and the other a scooter.

Residents of the area who came out hearing the gun shots rushed Sharma to the nearby Shanti Gopal Hospital where he was declared brought dead.

An eyewitness told IANS that residents came out of their homes but nobody could muster the courage to nab the gunmen who, brandishing their pistols, walked to a motorcycle parked nearby and made their escape.

After the incident, senior police officials reached the spot

"Nitin Sharma, who was looking after the marketing of the northern region of the company, had fired some executives of the company. They might be behind the murder but police are investigating the case, keeping all options open," said Rakesh Pandey of the Ghaziabad police.