LUCKNOW: Even after over 36 hours of the sensational double murder of a journalist and his brother by his neighbour and his three sons in Saharanpur of western UP on Sunday, district police authorities groped in the dark and failed to round up even a single shooter till Monday. However, senior superintendent of police (SSP) Dinesh Kumar announced Rs 25,000 bounty each on four main accused in the case.
While the Saharanpur police claimed that they were making all-out efforts to nab the culprits, CM Yogi Adityanath took cognizance of the matter and announced an ex-gratia of Rs 5 lakh each for the deceased.
Notably, in a sensational double murder, around three to four armed men allegedly barged into the house of a journalist associated with a famous Hindi language daily newspaper and opened indiscriminate fire at the scribe and his brother in Saharanpur’s Madhavnagar area on Sunday morning.
According to the local police sources, journalist Ashish Dhiman (24) and his brother Ashutosh Dhiman (20) had got into a verbal dual with their neighbours over dumping of cow dung and garbage near the scribe’s house. The issue took the shape of a big brawl and Ashish was beaten up blue and black by his neighbour Mahipal and his sons who, later, shot him and his sibling dead inside his house.
“Initially, a scuffle took place in the morning between Ashish and his neighbours over dumping of cow dung and garbage near his house. The accused had beaten up Ashish badly but then both sides left the scene. Later, Mahipal Saini and his three sons – Sunny Saini, Gaurav Saini and Suraj Saini -- armed with
country-made guns, barged into the house of Ashish and opened fire at the brothers,” senior superintendent of police (SSP) Dinesh Kumar P said while talking to media.
Based on a complaint of the family of the deceased, an FIR under section 302 (murder) and other relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code were lodged against Mahipal Saini and his family. Police have detained Mahipal's wife Vimlesh and daughter Varsha while a hunt was on to nab rest four males members of the Saini family. “Even surveillance cell is also actively supporting the hunt for the killers,” said a senior police official of Saharanpur.
According to police authorities, five teams were set up to trace the suspected killers who were native of Shamli. Mahipal, who used to run a dairy business in the neighbourhood, and his family had been living in Madhavnagar for the past three years, said the sources. “Mahipal does not have any criminal history in
Saharanpur though he has cases lodged against him in Dehradun and Shamli,” SSP Kumar said.
Despite heavy rains, local residents blocked the road and raised slogans against UP Police, demanding immediate arrest of the accused. As a precautionary measure, a battalion of the Provincial Armed Constabulary (PAC) was also deployed on the spot.
Meanwhile, UP chief minister Yogi Adityanath took cognizance of the incident and directed Saharanpur SSP to take “strongest possible action”. The government also announced an ex-gratia of deceased Ashish got married two years ago and was the sole breadwinner of the family after his father died of cancer. He is survived by his pregnant wife and mother.