A petty dispute over watering the fields by government tube well led to a sensational murder in Balrampur district when a sitting gram pradhan and his accomplices opened fire on two brothers, killing one of them and critically injuring the other.
The local police rushed to the spot soon after getting information about the incident and launched a hunt for the gram pradhan, who absconded before the arrival of the police. The other two, however, were arrested by the police.
According to reports, Sunil Kumar Jaiswal aka Baba is a sitting gram pradhan of Imilia Dihwa village under Kotwali Dehat police station area in Balrampur. He was having a dispute with a local villager, Raj Kumar Jaiswal, as the latter watered his sugarcane fields by the government tube well. The villagers claimed that the pradhan blocked the water supply from the tube well to Raj Kumar’s field and warned him of dire consequences if he saw them again watering their field by the tube well.
The situation took an ugly turn when Raj Kumar on Thursday morning removed the blockage in the aqueduct and directed the tube well water to his field with.
When Sunil Jaiswal learnt about it, he along with two others, identified as Sukhram Jaisal and Budhram Jaiswal, reached the fields. They first blocked the water passage and when Raj Kumar objected, he whipped out a revolver and opened fire on Raj Kumar and his brother Shiv Kumar.
Both the brothers were critically injured in the firing and rushed to hospital where the doctors pronounced Raj Kumar dead.
The police registered a case against all the three assailants.
Additional Superintendent of Police Namrita Srivastava said that two accused had been arrested and search was on for the village head.
As the houses of both the sides are close, a police force has been deployed to maintain peace and order in the village.
Meanwhile, a youth was beaten to death with sticks and rods late on Wednesday night in Horamavu village under Subeha police station of Barabanki district.
Four people of the village have been charged with murder.
Reports said that Deepak Yadav (28), son of Haribhajan, a resident of Horamavu village under Subeha police station, was beaten up with sticks outside the village late on Wednesday night. The victim was taken to a nearby hospital where the doctors pronounced him dead.
The father of the deceased, Haribhajan Yadav, alleged that Kishan, residing in the same village, along with three other associates had killed his son.
On Thursday morning, ASP Manoj Kumar Pandey reached the spot and initiated an investigation. He claimed that the deceased and the accused lived in Indore, Madhya Pradesh for many years and had returned to the village only five days ago.
The ASP said that preliminary investigation indicated some money dispute between the two sides which led to the murder.
Pandey said that they were trying to nab the accused so the truth could be extracted and they could be sent to jail.