SIDDHARTHNAGAR: A woman died of a gunshot injury suffered during a clash between local people and a police team conducting a raid in a case of cow slaughter in a village here, officials said on Sunday.
Sadar Circle Officer Pradeep Kumar Yadav said the police had gone to Islamnagar village on Saturday night to conduct a raid in a case of alleged cow slaughter.
He said local people attacked the police team, pelting stones at it and firing gunshots as well.
Yadav said the woman sustained a bullet wound in the firing and died during treatment at a hospital.
Asked if the police had fired in self-defence or retaliation, the Sadar CO said prima facie it appears that the woman died in firing by villagers and there was no firing by the police.
The entire picture, however, will become clear in the probe, he added.
The incident is being investigated from every point and the strictest action will be taken against whoever is guilty, he added.
The victim's relatives, however, claimed that the police team, along with a special operations group from the Sadar police station, arrived at her house around 10 pm and nabbed her son Abdul Rehman.
As the woman, Roshni, 50, opposed and questioned the police personnel, one of them shot at her and took Rehman away, they added.
Roshni's sons Atikur Rahman and Farooq said they had no idea why the police had come to arrest their brother.
They said they had come to the village from Mumbai only on Saturday for their sister's wedding.
Dr Shailendra Kumar of the district hospital said the woman was brought in by her family members but she died.
The family members claimed she was shot at but that will be confirmed only after an X-ray and other tests, he added.