In a tragic incident, a 32-year-old Samajwadi Party (SP) leader was shot dead by unidentified assailants near his home in Greater Noida’s Dadri area on Friday. Police in initial investigation have ruled out any political conspiracy. Ramtek Kataria was the president of the SP’s Dadri Assembly segment. According to a senior police official, the incident took place near his home on Jarcha road in Dadri around 12.30 pm.
“Around four unidentified men arrived in a car and fled after pumping five bullets in his body. Kataria was rushed to a hospital where doctors declared him brough dead,” said the senior police official.
“Initial investigation suggests that the killing is a result of personal rivalry between Kataria and one of his brothers in the extended family.
Prima facie, there appears no political conspiracy, or rivalry in this case,” said Vaibhav Krishna, Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP), Gautam Buddh Nagar. “An First Information Report (FIR) has been registered based on a complaint by Kataria’s family and an investigation has been taken up,” SSP added.
According to a police official privy to investigation, the rivalry between the two factions had been brewing for long and at times reached the police also, with FIRs and counter-FIRs being registered.
“An FIR was registered against the other party in 2018 based on a complaint from Kataria’s mother.
In January this year, a dead body was found on railway tracks in Aligarh, after which the other side had accused Kataria and an FIR was filed against him. In both the cases, the accusations had turned out to be false after probe,” said the police official.