In a shocking case on Thursday, a 46-year-old man named Jai Prakash was shot dead at a meeting attended by police officials and members of the district administration at Durjanpur village in Balia, Uttar Pradesh.
As per reports, four groups had filed applications for allotment of ration shops in Hanumanganj and Durjanpur villages. They had put up tents outside the panchayat building in anticipation of the administrative decision. However, a situation arose when the matter had to be resolved through voting between two groups, namely, Maa Sare Jagdamba and Shiv Shakti Swayam Sanstha. Sub-divisional magistrate (SDM) Suresh Chandra Pal and Circle Officer (CO) Chandradrakesh Singh, who were present during the meeting, said that only those with Aadhar or government ID cards could vote.
While one group had brought Aadhar cards, the other did not. This ensued a state of chaos. The Block Development Officer (BDO) then ordered postponing the election proceedings, on the advice of the SDM. When the administrative officials left for Baria, one group began sloganeering against the administration. The tension between the two groups soon escalated, leading to stone pelting, physical assault and trading bullets. Meanwhile, one Jai Prakash (46) was shot four times, allegedly by BJP leader Dhirendra Pratap Singh. Even though Jai Prakash was rushed to the nearby community health centre, he was declared dead on arrival.
BJP leader blames SDM, CO for the mishap
In his defence, Dhirendra Pratap Singh said that he was trying to protect his family on the fateful day and claimed that his father-in-law and sister-in-law were attacked during the meeting. He also alleged that 8 of his family members were injured and that one of them had died during the scuffle. The BJP leader had also blamed the Sub-divisional magistrate (SDM) Suresh Chandra Pal and Circle Officer (CO) over inadequate police deployment during the meeting, resulting in the chaos. They have been suspended over ‘laxity’ in duty.
Ballia shooting case: Accused Dhirendra Singh denies that he opened fire during scuffle.#ITVideo #UttarPradesh pic.twitter.com/GB4WRyAxFF
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The Uttar Pradesh government had also suspended three sub-inspectors, namely, Surya Kant Pandey, Sadanand Yadav and Kamla Singh Yadav, besides 6 constables of Reoti police station.
Police arrests 2 accused; to invoke NSA, Gangster Act
The Reoti police have arrested two accused, namely Narendra Pratap Singh and Devendra Pratap Singh, and detained 5 others in connection to the case. At the same time, the First Information Report (FIR) has named 8 people including the local BJP leader.The cops have also filed charges against 20-25 unnamed people.
While speaking on the development, DIG (Azamgarh Range) Subhash Chandra Dubey informed cash reward and the nature of the charges against the accused. “A cash reward of Rs 50,000 has been announced on each of the absconding accused. Action will also be initiated under the National Security Act (NSA) and the Gangster Act against the accused,” he stated.
As per law, NSA allows for preventive detention of an individual without a charge for a year, if he is deemed to be a threat to law and order or national security. Under the Gangster Act, the property (both movable and immovable) of a gangster can be attached by the orders of the district magistrate.
