Two held for celebratory firing at hotel in Delhi's Nehru Place

Two persons were arrested for allegedly firing in the air while celebrating a friend's birthday at a hotel in southeast Delhi's Nehru Place, police said on Friday.

While patrolling the area on early Thursday morning, police heard gunshots and rushed to the spot to find Gaurav Bhatia (29) and Vishal Beri (29) taking turns in firing rounds in the air from a country-made pistol, officials said.

Upon seeing the police, Bhatia, who has a garment showroom, hid the loaded pistol in his socks and made an unsuccessful bid to flee, a police official said, adding the country-made pistol and two cartridges were recovered from the accused.

Also three empty bullet cases were found at the spot. A case under sections 25 and 27 of the Arms Act have been registered against the duo, he said.

During interrogation, it was revealed that the accused along with others had come to the hotel to attend the birthday party of a friend. After the party, the accused allegedly started firing in the air to celebrate the occasion, police said.

Bhatia has a garment showroom in Amritsar while Beri, a law graduate, was into real-estate business. Further investigation was underway to trace from where the pistol was sourced, they said.