Samajwadi Party district secretary shot at in Greater Noida, probe on

The victim was identified as Brajpal Rathi, the Gautam Budh Nagar district secretary of the party. His condition was stated to be stable.

The district secretary of the Samajwadi Party was allegedly shot at by unidentified assailants near the Tilpata crossing in Greater Noida on Friday night, making it the second incident within 12 hours in the district wherein a political party leader was attacked.

The district secretary of the Samajwadi Party was allegedly shot at by unidentified assailants near the Tilpata crossing in Greater Noida on Friday night, making it the second incident within 12 hours in the district wherein a political party leader was attacked. (AFP Photo)

The victim was identified as Brajpal Rathi, the Gautam Budh Nagar district secretary of the party. His condition was stated to be stable.

According to police, Rathi was on his way to his house in Eta 1 sector in Greater Noida with a friend and driver in his SUV when the incident occurred.

“The incident occurred around 9.30 pm. Rathi was sitting in the second row of the car when unidentified bike borne assailants fired from behind, breaking the rear windshield. A bullet hit the victim on his right hand after which the driver and his friend rushed him to a private hospital in Kasna area of Greater Noida. His condition is stated to be stable,” said a police spokesperson.

Police also said that Rathi had a security cover since 2017 based on an order from the High Court which was then lifted in March due to the general elections 2019.

“A complaint was given by Rathi against unknown men. He has not mentioned any specific reason as to why this attempt on his life may have happened. An investigation in the matter is underway,” said superintendent of police (rural), Vineet Jaiswal.

A case was registered at the Surajpur police station under section 307 (attempt to murder) of the IPC.

On Friday afternoon, the president of Samajwadi Party’s Dadri assembly segment 30-year-old Ramtek Kataria was shot dead outside his house.

The family has accused six relatives in the matter. “A probe is going on and we will make the arrests soon,” said Jaiswal.

Senior party leaders belive that their members are being targeted. “This was the second incident in the district within 24 hours. Another of our member was shot dead in Jaunpur district which proves that our party people are being targeted ,” said Surender Singh Nagar, Rajya Sabha MP and all India general secretary of the Samajwadi party.

A delegation of Samajwadi Party leaders also met the senior superintendent of police on Saturday to discuss these issues. “I have assured them of a thorough investigation in both the cases and we are working on arresting the accused soon,” said SSP Vaibhav Krishna.