The Hindu : Front Page : Cop shot dead in Faizabad

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Wednesday, Jan 31, 2007
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Cop shot dead in Faizabad

Special Correspondent

Altercation ends in firing, young man arrested

LUCKNOW: Even as communal violence in Gorakhpur spread to rural areas within a 20-km radius, a police constable was shot dead and four persons were injured in violence following a dispute between two groups in Faizabad on Tuesday.

The police have arrested a young man, Sumit Sharma, in connection with the Faizabad incident, said to be the fallout of an old dispute between him and Mohammed Jilani. On Monday night, even as a Muharram procession was passing through the Mochi ka Tola area near Dilli Darwaza, the two were engaged in a heated argument. The presence of a heavy police force deterred the two from arguing further.

On Tuesday morning, some young men went to the house of Sumit Sharma in the same locality. Following an altercation between two groups, Sharma allegedly opened fire, in which four persons were wounded. When the police arrived, the youth allegedly fired on them also. While Constable Santram Yadav died on the spot, Ganesh Shukla, in charge of the Chowk police outpost, sustained leg injuries.

The condition of two of the injured, Mohammed Jilani and Khushnoor, was stated to be critical. They have been referred to King George's Medical University, Lucknow.

Police sources identified Sumit Sharma as the son of Amod Kumar Sharma, personal assistant to the Joint Director of Intelligence Bureau.

Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav announced a compensation of Rs. 10 lakh to the next of the kin of the deceased constable and Rs. 1 lakh each to the two seriously injured persons.

Sporadic violence

Gorakhpur district, meanwhile, witnessed sporadic violence on Tuesday. Some places of worship were vandalised. Cases of violence and arson were reported from Maharajganj, Kushinagar, Padrauna, Siddhartnagar, Azamgarh and Varanasi in the Purvanchal (eastern UP) region. Buses and other public property were damaged by Hindu Yuva Vahini and BJP supporters in protest against the arrest of the Member of Parliament from Gorakhpur, Yogi Aditya Nath.

Curfew in force in the Tewaripur, Rajghat, Kotwali and Gorakhnath police station areas of Gorakhpur town continued for the fourth day on Tuesday.

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