One person was critically injured when two unidentified motorcycle-borne miscreants opened indiscriminate fire, creating panic during a panchayat called in Azamgarh to settle a mobile snatching dispute on Friday evening.
The injured was first rushed to the district hospital from where he was referred to the medical college in Varanasi when his condition deteriorated.
A case was registered in this regard and efforts were being made to trace out the assailants and arrest them.
Reports said that Parvendar Yadav, a resident of Abyapur village under Akharula police station in Azamgarh, was irrigating his field last Wednesday when two youths snatched his mobile phone and escaped.
The incident was witnessed by 32-year-old Durgvijay, a resident of the same village, but he allegedly helped the miscreants escape safely.
Yadav alleged the role of Durgvijay in the mobile phone snatching and so a panchayat was called in the village on Friday evening to resolve the differences.
Some people from the village of Parvendar Yadav and some of the villagers questioned Durgvijay during the panchayat to find out the truth .
Sources said that when Durgvijay was disclosing what happened on the fateful day, two youths riding a motorcycle stopped at the place where the panchayat was being held and fired half-a-dozen rounds indiscriminately and escaped.
Two bullets reportedly hit Durgvijay, injuring him seriously. He was rushed to the community health centre at Akharula from where the doctors sent him to the district hospital. The doctors at the district hospital referred him to Varanasi.
Four separate cases were registered in connection with the incident and investigations were on.