Bengaluru: A quiet Thursday night at Sipani Bliss apartment complex in Anekal suddenly spiralled into a nightmare when a corporate designer took to his balcony and opened fire with an airgun into the darkness below. He sprayed some bullets at the security guards who asked him to stop firing. No one was injured in the incident.Anurag Tiwari, a 37-year-old senior designer at Bridgestone Select–Tyres World in Whitefield, was arrested in the early hours of Thursday following the 40-minute shooting spree that panicked residents and mobilised local law enforcement.Around 2:30am, the security guards heard the distinct sound of gunfire. They found Tiwari—a Lucknow native who had been living alone in his flat for the last eight months—standing on his balcony, firing an airgun indiscriminately into the night.One of the pellets struck a parked SUV in the apartment complex’s parking lot, shattering its rear windshield.When the guards and residents shouted at Tiwari to stop before he caused further property damage or injured someone, he turned the weapon around and aimed it directly at the crowd below. All ran helter-skelter and locked themselves inside their flats.With the situation escalating, the residents alerted the jurisdictional Surya City police station around 3:10am.Upon spotting the arriving police officers from his balcony, Tiwari fled into his flat and locked the door. Officers approached the flat and knocked repeatedly until Tiwari finally yielded, opened the door, and was taken into custody.According to police, Tiwari expressed remorse for his actions, attributing them to personal distress and heavy alcohol consumption.“I was frustrated over many personal issues; I had consumed alcohol and was not in my senses. I really don’t know what I did with the airgun which was placed in my bedroom,” Tiwari told police.Investigating officers said Tiwari had purchased the airgun online last year and maintained target shooting as an occasional hobby.An occupant of the apartment complex, Bidyut Kumar M, lodged a police complaint stating Tiwari had shattered the rear windshield of his car. “Our security personnel told me that Anurag Tiwari had fired his airgun at them and during the same time. Tiwari shattered the rear windshield of my car,” Bidyut’s complaint read.Tiwari has been placed under arrest and charged under Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) sections 351 (criminal intimidation) and 324 (mischief causing damage), alongside provisions of the Arms Act.Security guard Mohan said they heard the gunshots while patrolling. “We were patrolling when we heard the gunshots around 2.25am. We saw this man standing on the balcony of the third floor of the apartment complex and shooting. First, we whistled, but he did not hear. When we shouted, he turned at us,” Mohan said.
