MUMBAI: Sandeep Lakhan wishes he had trusted his instinct and not gone to work on Monday night. Following the death of his colleague, Chandrapratap Singh (also reported to be Sandeep Vijaysingh and Chandraprakash Singh), the 26-year-old security guard is in a state of shock. His 32-year-old colleague died in his arms outside actor Shah Rukh Khan's Bandra bungalow.

Lakhan is the sole witness to the altercation that took place between Singh and another guard, Yatendra Chauhan(also reported to be Yatendra Singh Chauhan and Hitendrasingh Chauhan), over the latter's gun.

"Singh was simply fooling around. I laughed along as both of us did not expect Chauhan to react the way he did. In fact, even when Chauhan placed the nozzle of his gun on Singh's chest, I didn't stop him because we had never imagined he would actually pull the trigger," Lakhan said.

Lakhan, a resident of Malad's Kurar village, has been working with Topsgrup Security for the past three years. Prior to joining the security industry, he worked as a courier boy. "I was posted as an unarmed security officer at Mannat and Singh joined me nine months ago," Lakhan said.

"Singh was very close to his family and kept discussing his children. We shared a great rapport. This was, however, not the case with Chauhan who was short-tempered," Lakhan said.

Lakhan said Chauhan joined the security team for Mannat on July 30, but always remained aloof. "He was an armed guard and was getting more than us," said Lakhan who draws a salary of Rs 4,000. "On one occasion, he even rebuked us as ordinary watchmen. He preferred being on his own."

On Monday night, Singh and Lakhan came to work around 8 pm. "We were patrolling the path behind the bungalow. Chauhan was, as usual, dozing in his chair. Around 12.20 am, Singh casually walked to Chauhan and said whether he was drawing Rs 15,000 for sitting on his chair.

He told Chauhan they had all been assigned patrolling duty, so he should be walking with them," said Lakhan. Chauhan ignored the remark. Singh once again went up to him and asked whether his gun worked. At this, Chauhan got up, stared at us, took three bullets out of his gun and put it on Singh's chest.

"We thought it was a joke. The next second, there was sound of gunfire and Singh collapsed in a pool of blood. Chauhan panicked and started running. I informed my supervisor Babuao Naik who was at the front gate with a police constable about the incident. Singh breathed his last in my arms," he said

Shah Rukh was inside the Bandra seaside bungalow when the incident occurred around 12.20 am and at the time it was still concidered and accident. "I had just returned from a TV show when I got to know about the accident," he said.

Police security provided to Shah Rukh Khan was increased following Tuesday's incident.

Chauhan was produced in Bandra court on Tuesday that remanded him to police custody till August 22.

Police also seized a loaded revolver from his house. The gun and five bullets have been sent to the forensic laboratory for ballistic analysis. Police have collected blood samples from the spot and sent them to the laboratory for chemical analysis.

As the courts were closed on Tuesday, Independence Day, Chauhan was produced in the Bandra holiday special metropolitan magistrate's court. Chauhan, in a green T-shirt, sat quietly as the judge remanded him in police custody till August 22.

Chauhan's counsel Nitin Satpute moved a bail application saying, "Police arrested him based on suspicion. There is no direct evidence against him. He has been falsely implicated."

It is learnt that following the incident, Khan apparently discontinued services of the private security agency after senior police officials today offered him police security cover.