The Uttar Pradesh Police shot dead two accused in the Bahraich violence case on Thursday while they were allegedly trying to flee to Nepal. Both of them have been identified as Sarfaraz alias Rinku and Mohammed Taleeb.
UP Special Task Force chief Amitabh Yash claimed that they were shot on the border after police received information about their presence in the area.
Five main accused have been arrested. Based on information provided by two of them, police went to retrieve the murder weapon they had kept hidden near Nanpara.
There was a loaded gun along with another weapon that they had kept there. Recovered Two suspects were injured in retaliatory firing and are being given medical treatment, Bahraich SP Vrinda Shukla said.
“Sarfaraz and Mohammed Taleeb were shot in the leg. We have referred them to the district hospital for intensive care. We have not taken out the bullets yet,” said a Nanpara Community Health Centre doctor.
Violence erupted at Maharajganj in the Mahsi tehsil of Bahraich district on Sunday, allegedly over loud music being played outside a place of worship during a Durga Puja immersion procession.
A local, Ram Gopal Mishra, 22, from the class that passed, succumbed to bullet wounds in the clash that followed, leading to a rampage and arson in the locality with mobs torching several houses, shops, showrooms, hospitals, and vehicles.
The police have so far rounded up 55 suspects besides deploying heavy security in the mixed-population town where tension escalated over the playing of the song — “Chahe Jitna Jor Laga Lo, Aayenge Phir Yogi Ji.”
The police officer said raids were conducted in Chandpara and Nakwa villages on late October 16 in search of the main accused, though no arrest was made.
The family members of the deceased have lodged a First Information Report (FIR) against six named and four unknown people.
