4 murders in a day in UP during lockdown

After a welcome lull in the crime scene in Uttar Pradesh during the first phase of lockdown, incidents of crime have again begun taking place.

In Shahjahanpur district, two murders were reported on Tuesday night, while one person was killed in Mainpuri and, in Bareilly, a BJP leader was shot dead.

Yunus Ahmed Dumpy, vice-president of the BJP's minority cell in Bareilly, was shot dead on Tuesday night. The police has filed a case.

In Shahjahanpur, a woman was allegedly killed by her second husband in Madnapur area, while a 70-year-old man was strangled by an unidentified person in Kalaan area of the district.

In the first incident in Madnapur, the police found Reena's body in a mini-van on Garah river bridge. Reena's second husband Shyam Sundar was trying to dump the body in the river when police came and the accused managed to flee.

Reena's mother-in-law told the police that her son and Reena had a tiff. The mother-in-law lodged a complaint against her son for Reena's murder.

Madnapur police Station House Officer (SHO) Dhananjay Singh said, "Shyam Sundar was Reena's second husband, and the couple had a tiff over her daughter from the first husband. We are waiting for the autopsy report to confirm the murder. The accused is absconding, but we will arrest him soon. We have also recorded the statement of the daughter, who saw her stepfather thrashing her mother."

The second murder in Shahjahanpur was reported from Kalaan, where elderly Balak Ram was allegedly thrashed and murdered by an unidentified person when he was sleeping in his farm.

An FIR under IPC section 302 (murder) has been registered, following a complaint lodged by the nephew of the deceased Suneel Kumar. Police are searching for the accused.

In Manipuri, a 28-year-old man's mutilated body was found on Tuesday. It is suspected that he was hacked to death with an axe for allegedly interfering in a long pending dispute between two local residents of Mainpuri village Nagla Girind Chandpur.

According to police, the incident took place on Tuesday afternoon when the deceased, Dhirendra Yadav, visited his neighbouring village to meet his friend Balram Chauhan.

He was hacked to death by Balram's rival, Govind Chauhan and his brothers.

According to the police, there is a long pending dispute between Govind and Balram as the former holds latter responsible for his sister's death. The girl had committed suicide about two years ago after her wedding was called off allegedly because of Balram.

Police said that about six months back, Govind and Balram had a fight and Dhirendra, who was present there, had intervened.

Since then Govind harboured a grudge against Dhirendra. On finding Dhirendra alone, Govind attacked and killed him.

Mainpuri Additional Superintendent of Police O.P. Singh said that FIR has been registered against four persons, including Govind.

Congress spokesman Dujendra Tripathi, meanwhile, said that the spate of murders during lockdown raises several questions on the efficiency of the police.

"During lockdown, when the police are deployed in every nook and corner of the state, the spate of murders is surprising. How could the culprits flee in this lockdown?" he asked.