Close on heels of the recent murder of a Hindu outfit leader in Lucknow, in yet another sensational incident, unidentified persons attacked and injured Mahant Kaushlendra Giri in Ballia on Tuesday.
Apart from Giri, his confidant and Shri Nath Baba Math priest Manoj Kumar aka Tunna Baba was also injured and their vehicles were damaged.
Both injured were shifted to a hospital for first aid while senior officers rushed to the spot and were making efforts to identify the assailants.
A case was registered by the local police.
As per reports, Giri along with his followers was going to attend a function at Beswan hamlet on Tuesday afternoon when their vehicles were intercepted at Munderwa power house by over a dozen unknown persons.
The miscreants suddenly started pelting stones in which Giri sustained minor injuries but Tunna was hit on the head.
Their vehicles were also damaged in the process.
Later, SHO of Munderwa police station, Surendra Singh, and Circle Officer KP Singh rushed to the spot. They also visited the Shri Nath Baba Math to enquire about the incident.
Meanwhile in Hamirpur, a couple in their early 20s was abducted, administered electric shocks till they passed out and later thrown in a field by the woman’s kin, taking them to be dead, on Sunday.
Victims Deepak (23) and the woman, whose identity was yet to be ascertained, however survived the attack and lodged a complaint on Monday.
The duo had been in a relationship and wanted to get married against the wishes of the woman’s family.
On January 29, they eloped but were caught the next day from Atra Barauli village in Chikasi area by the woman’s family members.
They were then taken to Mahoba by the woman’s kin Shodhan, Dharmendra and Lakshman and tortured repeatedly till they became unconscious and later thrown in a field by the assailants.
A case was registered and investigations were underway.
In another incident in Mahoba, Chandra Pal Singh (52) was seriously injured after being shot at by his nephew over a property dispute in Kharela area on Monday.
Singh’s condition was stated to be critical.
The assailant, Rajendra Singh alias Rajjan, was later arrested and the country-made pistol used in the crime was seized from him.
Elsewhere in Unnao, a man and a woman were injured after some unidentified persons attempted to slit their throats in Achalganj area on Tuesday.
The 19-year-old woman with cut marks on her throat was found in her house at Rautpur village while a 25-year-old man was found lying by the roadside, about 500 metres away, with similar injuries.
The police were informed about the incident on emergency number 112, after which a team rushed to the spot.
Preliminary investigation indicated that the man and the woman were having an affair, which was not approved by their families.
The injured were admitted to a hospital.