In a sensational daylight double murder in Bijnore, local Bahujan Samaj Party leader and Assembly segment incharge Haji Mohammad Ahsan and his nephew Shadab were shot dead by unidentified assailants under Najibabad police station area on Tuesday.
Police said the BSP leader, who also dabbles in property dealing, was in his office along with his nephew when the assassins opened indiscriminate fire, critically injuring them. The victims were later rushed to district hospital where doctors pronounced them brought dead.
Sources said that the assailants brought the pistol in a box of sweets to congratulate Ahsan for the BSP’s victory in Bijnore. Ahsan was reciting Quran in the office when the three assailants fired at him with pistols. Shadab, who rushed to save his uncle, also sustained gunshot wounds. The police suspected the attack to be a fallout of an enmity over property. A manhunt was launched to nab the culprits.
Meanwhile, in Muzaffarnagar, a brick kiln owner and six others were booked for allegedly raping and setting ablaze a minor Dalit labourer. The 14-year-old victim used to work at the kiln in a village and was found dead on Saturday. Later, her parents lodged a complaint at Kotwali police station and seven persons, including the kiln owner, were booked for raping and setting her afire. The autopsy report suggested that the girl died due to burns and suffocation.
In a separate case in Mirzapur, three minor girls of a family drowned while bathing in the Ganges at Nandi Ghat in Dugauli village on Tuesday morning. Five members of a family had gone to take bath in the river. While the three girls drowned, two others swam to safety. A police team soon rushed to the spot and a net was spread in the afternoon after which the bodies were fished out. The deceased were identified as Anshika (9), Sandhya (14) and Babli (13).