Two persons were killed and five others were critically injured after unidentified gunmen opened indiscriminate fire in a village in Jalaun district, about 100 km from here early Wednesday, police said.
Most of the victims were sleeping outside their houses in Sandi village when three criminals started shooting randomly in an area of around 500 metres at around 2:30 am.
The police are baffled as the investigation so far has failed to find a reason which could have led to the shootings.
“It is not clear who the criminals were and why they fired randomly at the people,” said Surendra Tiwari, additional superintendent of police, Jalaun.
Five police teams assisted by the surveillance cell and Special Operation Group are working on the case. The criminals were apparently well versed with the geography of the Sandi village and cleverly avoided two lanes where CCTV cameras were installed, said police.
One of the injured, Bala Prasad, 60, told the police that the criminals shot him after he said ‘Ram Ram’ to them.
Prasad told police that he was woken up by the sound of some men running around. He saw three men and greeted them traditionally. In return, he was shot at. Two bullets hit him in the abdomen and in a leg.
{{/usCountry}}Prasad told police that he was woken up by the sound of some men running around. He saw three men and greeted them traditionally. In return, he was shot at. Two bullets hit him in the abdomen and in a leg.
{{/usCountry}}Those dead have been identified as Mohammad Azad (61) and Jai Devi (55). Azad was shot while he was sleeping and Jai Devi was shot when she was going to attend nature’s call, the police said. Zeeshan (45) and Mahendra Pal (32) were shot outside their houses. Both of them have been rushed to a hospital in Kanpur in critical condition.
The police said the villagers were not able to explain the shooting or tell anything about the shooters.
“There is no motive known to us as of now,” said Tiwari.
The investigators believe the criminal may have been in the village for a crime and felt threatened by those they saw.