In a shocking incident, the granddaughter of a former gram pradhan was allegedly shot dead by a jilted lover in Hamirpur.
The local police, however, claimed that the victim was in love with the accused and after protest by the family members, the youth opened fire in which the girl died.
A case was registered and the body was sent for autopsy. The cops also managed to nab the accused and recovered the pistol used in the crime from his possession.
Former gram pradhan Chetram Ahirwar, hailing from Basela village in Kotwali area of Hamirpur said that his 20-year-old granddaughter, Pooja, was sleeping on the terrace with her mother, Chaina, grandmother, Shyambai, on Tuesday night. He said that in the wee hours of Wednesday, a youth residing in the same village barged into the house and reached the terrace and tried to kidnap Pooja. He said that when Pooja resisted, her mother and grandmother tried to nab the accused but in the meantime, the youth whipped out a pistol and opened fire, critically injuring Pooja, and jumped out of the house and escaped.
Chetram Ahirwar said that they rushed Pooja to the district hospital from where she was referred to the medical college hospital in Jhansi and later to Gwalior but she died on the way.
The locals said the family members of the girl were not ready for her marriage with a local youth, identified as Deepak, so he tried to abduct her and when she refused, he shot her dead.
Soon after receiving the information of the death of the girl, Superintendent of Police Deeksha Sharma, accompanied by additional superintendent of police, rushed to the spot for investigation and met the family members of the girl. Deeksha Sharma said the accused had been arrested and the pistol which he used for murdering the girl was recovered.
During interrogation, the arrested youth claimed that he was in love with the girl for three years and as she refused to marry him due to her family’s pressure and he opened fire in which she died.
Meanwhile in Lakhimpur Kheri, a Dalit woman and her daughter were killed with a sharp-edged weapon in a village under Hyderabad police station on Tuesday night.
According to the police, Saraswati Devi (62) and Poonam (41) were alone in the home in Devipur village on Tuesday evening. Police said Saraswati's son-in-law Surendra returned home from work with his wife on Tuesday night and found the blood-soaked bodies of Saraswati and Poonam. Both were hit on the head with a sharp weapon.
Inspector-in-charge of Hyderabad police station, Chandrabhan Yadav, said that soon after receiving information, he rushed to the spot. Yadav said that both the bodies had been sent for post-mortem and all aspects of the case were being investigated. He said that circumstantial evidence suggested that both were brutally killed with some sharp-edged weapons and later their faces were crushed with a stone. The family members could not cite any possible motive which could have led to the brutal killings.
In Ballia, a 24-year-old man was arrested for allegedly abducting and raping a 15-year-old girl, police said on Wednesday.
The minor was kidnapped by the accused, Amarjit Pathak, last Thursday night, and the girl’s brother had lodged a missing complaint on Saturday. She somehow managed to dodge Pathak and return home. Later she gave her statement against the accused to the police.
The man was nabbed from Bullapur village of Dubhar on Tuesday, the police said.