Ghaziabad (UP), Nov 23 (PTI) A 68-year-old man allegedly shot himself dead with his licensed pistol at his residence in Patel Nagar area here on Thursday, police said.

The incident took place at around 6 am, they said.

The victim, Rajeev Sharma's father-in-law K K Gautam is a retired deputy superintendent of police and was posted in Ghaziabad district for a long time, police said.

Sharma was working with a trading company.

Deputy Commissioner of Police Nipun Agarwal said the accused shot a bullet in his mouth which pierced through his skull and got stuck in the wall.

The police are probing the motive behind the extreme step, he added.

Sharma's wife Chanchal (62) said that he had brought the pistol from his bank locker. No suicide note has been recovered from Sharma's residence, police said. PTI COR ABN AS ABN AS NSD NSD