A retired Indian Air Force (IAF) staffer was shot dead and his wife critically injured after unidentified men broke into their home here early Thursday, police said.
The criminals entered the first floor of the house in Makanpur locality around 4 a.m. and broke open the door of the bedroom where Giriraj, 65, and his wife Premwati were sleeping.
They then shot and stabbed Giriraj, police said.
Premwati too was shot and then stabbed when she raised an alarm.
When the gunshots were heard, the neighbours phoned the police, but the criminals fled the spot.
The police rushed the couple to Fortis Hospital in Noida, where doctors declared Giriraj dead.
Premwati has been admitted to the ICU and her condition is critical.
"After his retirement, Giriraj had been engaged in property dealing. Prima facie, it seems a property related dispute, but robbery also cannot be ruled out," Circle Officer Kamlesh Bahadur said.
Giriraj's two sons live in the same locality in their separate houses. His one son runs a shop on the ground floor of Giriraj's house, while a portion of the first floor had been rented out.