Several persons were injured, three of them critically, when supporters of Bharatiya Janata Party MLA from Bilgram-Mallawan Assembly constituency in Hardoi, Asheesh Singh ‘Ashu’, and Mallawan Nagar Palika chairman Ankit Jaiswal exchanged fire and engaged in a violent clash late Friday night.
Senior officers rushed to the spot and were camping there to avert recurrence of violence. Cross-cases have been registered against the MLA and the nagar palika chairman along with their supporters but no arrests were made.
As per reports, Mallawan Nagar Palika chairman Ankit Jaiswal’s brother Siddharth Jaiswal aka Siddhu had a dispute with Kallu of Devmanpur area of Hardoi, a close aide of BJP MLA
Asheesh Singh ‘Ashu’, about three days back.
The matter took an ugly turn when the MLA’s supporters reached the chairman’s house near Mallawan crossing and opened indiscriminate fire late Friday night. In retaliation, the chairman’s henchmen also returned the fire in which three supporters of the MLA were critically injured.
The injured were identified as Ankit (24) of Devmanpur, Aman (23) and Vineet Dwivedi (30) of Shahpur Ganga. Ankit was later shifted to the KGMU Trauma Centre in Lucknow after his condition deteriorated.
On learning about the incident, senior officers reached the spot along with local police personnel.
Late Friday night, Ashu’s supporter Himanshu Patel lodged a report against Ankit Jaiswal and his brothers Siddharth Jaiswal and Vishal Jaiswal, Rohit Rana, Rahul Sharma, Jalaluddin, Indrapal and unknown miscreants.
Similarly, Ankit Jaiswal also lodged a report and named the MLA, along with his representative Neeraj Vidyarthi, Sunil Kumar Kannaujia, Rajeev, Rishi, Aman, Ankit, Himanshu, Rahul and 200 unknown persons.
While no arrests were made, a heavy police force was patrolling the area to avert any further clash.