Ghaziabad, July 24 -- A 36-year-old Gurugram restaurateur has been detained for allegedly conspiring to murder his childhood friend after initially claiming that the victim had been shot by two unidentified motorcycle-borne assailants in Ghaziabad's Indirapuram late on Wednesday, police said.

Police identified the deceased as a 35-year-old resident of Sector 3 in Gurugram. According to investigators, the suspect called the police emergency helpline around 11.30pm and claimed that two motorcycle-borne men had shot the victim after he stepped out of their car.

During questioning, however, police said they found inconsistencies in his account.

"He told us that he had brought the victim to Ghaziabad on the pretext of some work on Wednesday...