Tussle over dominance between two caste groups, marked by exchange of indiscriminate fire, led to a triple murder in Hamirpur on late on Monday. With the situation spiralling out of hand, additional force from neighbouring police stations and PAC were deployed.
Hamirpur SP Ratan Kumar Srivastava said while the situation was tense, no further incident had been reported on Tuesday and efforts were being made to net the culprits. According to reports, a group led by Amar Singh of Sargaon hamlet of Machigawa have been lording over the rival Brahmin populace in the area for some time. To stamp their authority, the former brutally assaulted some Brahmins in December last year. When the victims lodged a case, Amar Singh had threatened to kill them.
On Monday night, Singh and more than a dozen of his cronies attacked the Brahmin group, which saw both parties engage in an intense gunbattle. Three villagers — Ram Kishore (50), Raj Kishore (40) and Ram Badhai (28) — died on the spot while others received injuries.
After terrorising the villagers, the miscreants escaped before the police reached the spot. A case has been registered.