A couple was stabbed to death by three people over an old rivalry in Muzaffarnagar on Wednesday.

As per reports, Harpal Saini (50) and his wife Koshal (48) were returning to their home at Khalwada village from Muzaffarnagar court when three bike riders pulled them out of an e-rickshaw and fatally stabbed them.

In June last year, Harpal Saini and his two sons, Rahul and Shubham, were arrested for the murder of a resident of Johra village. Later Saini obtained bail and got out of jail, while both his sons were still incarcerated.

The police said that the couple left their village, fearing a threat to their lives and had been living with their in-laws at Khalwada village. An old rivalry was suspected to be the reason for the murderous attack.

A case was registered and four teams have been set up to nab the assailants.

Elsewhere in Mainpuri, a woman Komal was fatally shot while her husband Karan suffered serious gunshot wound when the woman's brother and uncle opened fire at them for her marrying a person outside her caste on Tuesday.

Komal had got married to a person from another community against the wishes of her family members, on April 20. However she had the consent of her mother and maternal uncle.

Miffed at her move, her brother and uncle approached them and later opened fire from close range on Tuesday morning. While Komal died on the spot, Karan suffered gunshot injury between the temple and face and was rushed to Safai Medical College. Komal's mother-in-law and brother-in-law were also injured in the incident.

After receiving information, the police rushed to the spot and shifted the injured to a hospital.

Meanwhile in Lakhimpur Kheri, woman accused a SSB jawan of blackmailing and later raping her after which an investigation was initiated. In her complaint with the police, the woman alleged that the SSB jawan living in the same locality used to visit her house. She further said that the jawan captured her picture while she was taking a bath and later started blackmailing her. He made physical relations after threatening her of using the explicit photograph.