In two separate incidents, two Samajwadi Party (SP) leaders were shot dead by unidentified persons in Uttar Pradesh on Friday, May 31. The UP Police have ruled out any political rivalry in both cases.
41-year-old Lalji Yadav was shot dead while he was travelling on his SUV on the Shahganj-Jaunpur road when three motorcycle-borne assailants intercepted the vehicle and opened fire. The incident happened at around 9.30 am near Siddiquepur in Khwaja Sarai area of Jaunpur district, according to a police official.
While Yadav was rushed to a hospital but he had succumbed to injuries. Yadav, who was charged under the Gangsters Act, was a contractor who had murder and other criminal cases against him.
Prima facie, it appears to be a case of personal enmity and not any political rivalry, district Superintendent of Police Ashish Tiwari said. "It is possible that he was in touch with criminals also and the killing is a resultant of personal issues."
The killing could be motivated from the property-related issues and it can be confirmed after a probe, Jaunpur Rural additional SP Sanjay Rai told news agency PTI.
In Gautam Buddh Nagar district, the president of the Samajwadi Party's Dadri assembly segment was killed in a similar manner.
Ramtek Kataria was near his home on Jarcha road overseeing some construction work when four masked men pumped bullets into him around 12.30 pm, the police said.
The four unidentified men arrived in a car and opened at least 10 rounds of fire on Kataria and fled the spot. He was rushed to a nearby hospital where he was declared dead, district Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Vaibhav Krishna said.
Prima facie, the killing appears to be a result of personal enmity with one of Kataria's brothers in the extended family, Krishna said.
According to officials, the rivalry between the two factions had been brewing for long and, at times, reached the police also, with the two sides registering cases against each other.
Under Section 302 (murder) of the Indian Penal Code, FIRs has been registered in both the shooting incidents. An investigation is underway.
