UP: BJP leader shot dead, his colleague among three detained
A BJP leader was shot dead by bike-borne assailants in Uttar Pradesh's Firozabad district last night and three people, one a party colleague, were detained. The deceased Dayashankar Gupta, was attacked at a local market after he closed his shop for the day. He was rushed to the hospital but didn't survive. The accused was identified as Viresh Tomar, who has recently joined BJP.
Two uncles of the main accused were held
Police said Tomar's uncles — Narendra Tomar and Devendra Tomar — were also detained on the basis of the bereaved family's claims that political enmity led to the murder. As per NDTV, Gupta, who was the Mandal Vice President, was not pleased with Tomar's induction into the saffron party. Just recently, Tomar and Gupta had a heated exchange on Facebook, a cop said.
Tomar's uncle, Gupta contested against each other in polls: Cop
Police officer A Satish Ganesh said, "Viresh Tomar recently had a heated exchange with Gupta on Facebook. Viresh Tomar's uncle had earlier contested local village body election from Ratigarhi village in Firozabad against Gupta, and he had won the election."
Gupta's supporters protested outside the hospital, demanded arrests
After the murder, Gupta's supporters and family members protested outside the hospital, where he was taken to, and demanded the arrest of the accused. Reports said the Tundla-Etah route was also blocked by the protesters. "We talked to the protesters to calm them down. We are aiming for a breakthrough in the next 24 hours," police officer Mukesh Kumar Mishra said earlier.
Gupta lent support to BJP's candidate for Tundla by-polls
Earlier in the day, Gupta had lent his support to BJP candidate for Tundla by-polls. The election is due for November 3. He also attended a meeting of UP BJP President Swatantra Dev Singh, reports Amar Ujala. Reacting to the news, Manvendra Pratap Singh, the President of BJP's Firozabad unit, said, "The murder is a condemnable act. Police should arrest the accused soon."
Not long ago, man was shot dead in broad daylight
Gupta's murder sheds light on the crippling law and order situation in UP, once again. Two days ago, a man was shot in broad daylight in Ballia, in the presence of cops. The shot was allegedly fired by Dhirendra Singh, an aide of BJP MLA Surendra Singh. A day after the incident, Surendra defended the accused's actions, saying he fired in self-defense.
