A betel leaf vendor was allegedly shot at “accidentally” and injured on Monday morning by unidentified persons in an SUV in Sector 20 area. A police probe is underway.
Victim Bhikam Singh (55), a resident of New Ashok Nagar, said four people in an SUV had stopped at his vend and asked for ‘paan’. “After serving them, I started focusing on other customers. Suddenly I heard a loud bang and realized a bullet had hit my back,” Singh stated in his police complaint, filed Tuesday, based on which Sector 20 police booked unknown men under IPC sections 279 (rash driving) and 324 (voluntarily causing hurt using dangerous weapons).
The unidentified men fled and Singh was rushed to a nearby hospital by locals. The victim has given the police the vehicle’s registration number.
The police believe that this was an accidental shooting. “It doesn’t seem the victim was targeted. The weapon probably fired accidentally. Singh’s back was injured by a casing and he is doing fine now. It seems that one of the four in the SUV was also injured,” deputy commissioner of police, zone 1, Sankalp Sharma said.
A police officer, on the condition of anonymity, said the vehicle is registered in the name of a national political leader from Pilibhit and the men in the vehicle were a politician’s “gun men”.
“We are working on establishing the shooters’ identity and whether or not they are related to the vehicle owner, whose identity is also being established. Once the men are identified, we will verify whether the weapon is registered and to whom. Accordingly, necessary legal action will be taken. The case will be worked out soon,” said Sharma.
