Tension prevailed in SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav’s parliamentary constituency of Azamgarh, when two factions of the party clashed on Thursday night leaving a sitting pradhan and senior lawyer dead.
Agitated villagers vandalised and torched the local police station in which more than 100 two-wheelers and a dozen four-wheelers, important records and licensed weapons were reduced to ashes. Personnel from at least six adjoining police stations were later summoned to maintain peace.
As per reports, Pradhan of Motipur area of Maharajganj, Sighasan Yadav was returning home on Thursday evening when his rivals Virendra Yadav, his brother Prahlad Yadav and a dozen of other aides gunned him down. While the assasins absconded, locals rushed Sighasan to the district hospital where he was pronounced dead upon arrival.
The news of his death spread soon and hundreds of supporters converged at the Maharajganj police station. The mob first
hurled missiles when cops tried to chase them and later went on the rampage torching the police station. The situation could only be contianed after SP district chief, a state minister and other leaders reached the spot.
Senior police officers said that Virendra was fighting the BDC poll so Sighasan had asked him to keep off from the coming Pradhan polls in which he or his wife would be contesting. When Virendra refused to comply, Sighasan handed him a life threat. Irked by this, Virendra gunned down Sighasan before the start of the pradhan polls. A case was registered and efforts were being made to nab the accused.
Meanwhile two more incidents of poll-related violence were reported from Amethi and Pratapgarh.
In Amethi, political rivalry took an ugly turn when some armed men shot at and injured a SP leader and husband of a candidate for the district panchayat member, Rajesh Yadav (45) on Thursday evening. The victim had gone for a walk in Shivapur Sultanpur village of Munshiganj when he was attacked. Yadav was rushed to the Trauma Center, KGMU in lucknow where his condition was stated to be critical.
A case was later registered against BSP leader and former block pramukh Jaiprakash and three others for the shoot out. Jaiprakash is pitted against the victim’s wife Vijay Kumari in the polls. The voting for the districyt manchayat is over and counting would be carried out on Sunday.
Meanwhile in Pratapgarh, a District Panchayat candidate was shot dead by unidentified bike-borne assailants near Badanpur village on Thursdaynight. Indramani Shukla (35) was returning home in his car when assailants shot him dead in an unlit area of Kotwali police station area. A lawyer by profession, Shukla was rushed to the district hospital where he was declared dead. local lawyers have demanded the immediate arrest of the murderers.
Meanwhile the Rampur, the police arrested a district panchayat president in apprehension of breach of peace. Hafiz Abdul Salaam was arrested soon after he returned after offering namaz on Friday. He was to stage a dharna flouting prohibitory orders imposed. Before the polling, Salaam staged a dharna and carried out a march and a case was registered for violating model code of conduct.
