In a gruesome double-murder, two brothers were hacked to death allegedly by one Sajid, a local barber, at Baba Colony in Budaun on Tuesday evening, police said. The victims were identified as Ayush (13) and Honey (6). The victims’ brother was also injured in the incident.
About two hours after the double-murder, accused Sajid (22) was killed in an encounter with police.
Uttar Pradesh’s Director General of Police Prashant Kumar said the accused was shot dead when he opened fire on the police team which went to arrest him.
Sources said that Sajid’s wife is pregnant for the third time and as on earlier two occasions her children did not survive, following tantric practices, he killed the two innocent children.
Sajid had blood on his mouth and face which indicated that he drank the blood of the victims as part of a tantric practice in the hope that his act will help in saving the life of his still unborn child.
Sajid’s shop is located near the residence of the two boys in Baba Colony in Civil Line police station area of Budaun. The victims' father, Vinod Singh, is a contractor, while their mother, Sangeeta, has a beauty parlour.
According to Senior Superintendent of Police of Budaun, Alok Priyadarshi, Sajid entered the house around 7:30 pm on Tuesday. At that time, Vinod Singh, had gone to the market while his wife was at her beauty parlour. The boys were at home with their paternal grandmother.
When Vinod Singh’s mother went to prepare tea, Sajid went to the third floor of the house, where the two boys were playing with their brother, Piyush (8). He attacked the boys with a sharp-edged weapon, slitting the throats of the two victims.
Piyush, who sustained minor injuries, managed to escape and alerted the rest of the family.
The SSP said the police teams swung into action when they came to know that the accused had escaped. Sajid fired at the police team and was killed in retaliatory fire.
On the complaint of the father of the deceased, the police registered an FIR against Sajid and his brother Javed.
According to locals, the accused often had disputes with his neighbour Vinod Kumar’s family.
A heavy police force was deployed at Baba Colony located near the Mandi Samiti police outpost as the locals protested against the ghastly double-murder.
Budaun District Magistrate Manoj Kumar said some people got agitated after the incident and they were asked to maintain peace.