In a sensational daylight shooting in Ballia, a Bharatiya Janata Party leader gunned down his opponent in front of senior officials before casually walking away from the spot.
After the firing incident, supporters of both sides came to a head and the clash left several seriously injured in Durjanpur hamlet of Rewati in Ballia,
Taking a serious note of the incident, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath ordered immediate suspension of the officers who were present on the scene but did not react in time.
An order was also issued to initiate criminal proceedings against the officers if they were found to be part of a conspiracy. Besides, Yogi Adityanath also ordered stern action against the accused.
As per reports, a meeting was convened at the Panchayat Bhawan to settle the issue of allotment of quota for fair price shops in Durjanpur and Hanumanganj areas on Thursday morning.
Sub-Divisional Magistarte of Bairia, Suresh Pal, along with Circle Officer Chandrakesh Singh, Block Development Officer Gajendra Pratap Singh and other officials were present at the meeting.
Four self-help groups had applied for the quota but a consensus could not be reached on allocating shops in Durjanpur area. It was then decided to decide the issue through voting between Maa Sayer Jagdamba SHG and Shiv Shakti SHG. The officials also insisted that only those having identity proof would be allowed to vote.
While one of the groups had IDs, the other group was without them, which resulted in a dispute. The officials claimed that they then cancelled the meeting and left the venue.
However, eyewitnesses said that the two parties, one led by BJP leader Dhirendra Pratap Singh and other by Jai Prakash Pal came to a head after the dispute arose at the meeting venue. The situation took an ugly turn when Dhirendra whipped out his licensed rifle and opened fire, killing Jai Prakash on the spot.
The eyewitness said that all the officers silently watched the killing and did not react when the assailant casually walked out from the scene of crime.
Later, a clash between the supporters of both sides ensued that left several injured and they were admitted to a community health centre in Sonbarsa.
Upon learning of the incident, senior officers rushed to the spot and camped there to avert any untoward incident.
After the chief minister acted tough, several police teams were formed and efforts were underway to arrest the assailant.
On the complaint of Jai Prakash’s brother, a case was registered against Dhirendra Pratap Singh and his aides Narendra Pratap Singh, Prayag Singh, Prabhat Pratap Singh, Yashwant Pratap Singh, Devendra Pratap Singh, Amarjeet Yadav, Santosh Yadav at Rewathi police station and efforts were on to arrest them.
The incident provided ammunition to the opposition to hit out at the state government over the deteriorating law and order situation.
Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav said that those in power were challenging law and order openly.
“A horrific incident that defied law and order in Ballia has come to light where a BJP leader shot and killed a young man Jai Prakash Pal in front of SDM and CO. The assailant also escaped after shooting,” the SP posted on its official Twitter account.
Party spokesperson and MLC Sunil Singh Sajan said that the government was being run by criminals and Thursday’s incident was proof of it.
Former BJP ally and Suheldev Bhartiya Samaj Party (SBSP) chief Om Prakash Rajbhar said that there was no fear of law among criminals in the state.
“The chief minister should see that the leaders of opposition are not firing. This is a leader of the BJP who shot and killed a youth in public view. In Ballia, BJP leader Dhirendra Singh shot and killed a young man in front of a SDM and CO. There is no fear of law and order in Uttar Pradesh,” he posted on Twitter.