A Dalit man was shot dead by two persons on a Panchayat election-related rivalry in Azamgarh district on Monday morning. Victim’s mother is presently a contestant for BDC member.
According to reports, the victim Sahab Raj (35) of Domanpur village under Devgaon police station area fell apart with his former associates Surya Nath and Uddhav aka Sonu after date of election was declared this year and his mother decided to contest election.
The villagers said the area had a formidable number of voters of Dalit class and both Suryanath and Uddhav were eyeing to garner support for the candidate they wanted to win the election.
The miscreant initially tried to pressurize the family to quit from contesting election and then they also threatened the victim of dire consequences.
On Monday morning, both stopped the victim on the way when he was going to meet some people and picked a fight. They then shot at him and fled the scene.
After the incident, a number people of Dalit community assembled the scene and rushed the victim to primary health care centre where he was declared brought dead. The victim suffered firearm injuries at his chest.
The incident created a tension between the villagers with supporters from both the side divided in two camps.
Senior police officials reached to the place to supervise the investigation and additional police force was deployed in the area to avert any possible class conflict.
The police registered a case in this connection and also slapped SC/ST act on the named persons. Investigations are underway.