Woman, grandson shot dead by neighbours over tethering cattle

A 25-year-old man and his grandmother were allegedly shot dead by their neighbours at Bheem Nagar area in Vijay Nagar near NH-24 on Monday evening after they raised objections over the neighbours occupying their space by tethering cattle.

A 25-year-old man and his grandmother were allegedly shot dead by their neighbours at Bheem Nagar area in Vijay Nagar near NH-24 on Monday evening after they raised objections over the neighbours occupying their space by tethering cattle.

Bheem Nagar residents block NH-24 near Vijay Nagar after Prem Wati, 60, and her grandson, 25, were shot dead. (Sakib Ali/HT Photo)

The incident took place around 6pm when Prem Wati, 60, objected to her neighbour Kishan Singh tethering his cattle outside her house.

“Singh got agitated over it and shot both Prem Wati and her grandson Ravinder with a firearm. The accused fled the spot and our teams are searching for him. There has been long-standing dispute over the right of way and also over some drain where the accused person’s family dumped garbage. This was also objected to by the victim family,” a police officer said.

Prem Wati and Ravinder succumbed to their bullet injuries on they way to the hospital.

Relatives of the victims said Ravinder studied at a science and management college in Ghaziabad.

“The families have had a long dispute. Our relatives objected whenever the accused tied up the cattle in front of their house. They had told the neighbours to remove the cattle as they obstructed parking space. When I was reaching near the house, I saw the man shooting at the them,” sister-in-law of Ravinder’s mother said.

After the incident, hundreds of residents of Bheem Nagar and nearby localities blocked the highway and demanded immediate arrest of the accused who fled their house after the incident. The two families are allegedly from different castes.

“We are yet to get a complaint from the victim family as they are with residents who have blocked the NH-24 highway near Vijay Nagar. Both victims sustained gunshots and are dead. Our officials are trying to convince local residents that strict action will be taken and they should move out of the highway. The neighbour who opened fire is Kishan Singh. We are awaiting a complaint,” KS Emmanuel, senior superintendent of police, Ghaziabad, said.

“We have diverted the traffic at five to six locations in order to avoid blockade on the highway. However, some traffic near the protest site is still held up. We are trying to get it cleared soon,” he said.