Pilibhit (UP), Oct 13 Three people were killed during a dispute between two groups over the income and expenditure of a Ramlila fair here, police said on Tuesday.
One person was injured in the incident that occurred in the Amariya area on Monday evening. The prime accused has been arrested, police said.
“Three people have died in the violence between two groups and one person has been injured. While two of the deceased, Kunal Srivastava (18) and Ankit Gupta (30), died on the spot, Mohit Gupta (38) succumbed to his injuries at a hospital in Bareilly during treatment,” Circle Officer (Jahanabad) Natasha Goyal told PTI.
Ankit and Mohit were brothers.
Superintendent of Police Sukirti Madhav said the prime accused, Kaushal Gupta, has been arrested, even though no complaint has been received from the family members of the deceased so far.
According to police, Ankit, an office-bearer of last year’s mela committee, convened a meeting on Monday night at the house of one of the members. The agenda included reviewing the previous year’s income and expenditure accounts and discussing the formation of a new committee.
Police said that Kaushal, a resident of Amariya town, was eyeing a position in the fair committee this time and created a commotion by questioning the financial accounts.
Ankit and Kunal objected to his behaviour and explained that every expense was being accounted for.
This led to a heated exchange between the two groups. It is alleged that during the altercation, Kaushal and his associates opened fire. Ankit and Kunal were shot in the chest and they died on the spot, police said.
Mohit and another person, Rohit, were injured and rushed to a hospital in Amariya, from where they were referred to Bareilly. Mohit died during treatment in Bareilly, they said.
A tense atmosphere prevails in Amariya after the incident and heavy police deployment has been made to maintain law and order.
(PTI News)
