Panic in Bareilly after indiscriminate firing on highway

LUCKNOW: Panic gripped commuters on the Bareilly-Pilibhit highway when two groups engaged in indiscriminate firing over the possession of a plot within the Izzat Nagar police station limits on Saturday morning. A viral video of the incident on social media drew the attention of senior police authorities in Lucknow, who directed stern action in the incident.

Several rounds of bullets were fired from both sides of the highway for over 30 minutes, causing commuters to shield themselves and restricting vehicular movement. Local police reached the spot around an hour after the incident, according to witnesses. Six police personnel were suspended for negligence in the matter.

Bareilly Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP), Ghule Sushil Chandra Bhan, confirmed that the incident occurred over the possession of a plot where Shankar Mahadeva Marbles is located near Bajrang Dhaba on Pilibhit bypass road at around 6 am on Saturday. He said that marble shop owner Aditya Upadhyaya, along with his son Aviral Upadhyaya and his aide Rohit Sharma, had a confrontation with Rajiv Rana, who attempted to take possession of the plot with the help of around 50 other people.

Sharing further details, Bareilly Circle Officer (CO) -III, Anita Chauhan, said Rajiv Rana and his aides tried to demolish the shop with the help of two earthmovers. She said that this led to a confrontation between Aditya Upadhyaya and Rajiv Rana, which later escalated when Rana’s group opened fire to show their supremacy.

“Aditya Upadhyaya and his son also opened fire with his licenced double-barrel gun. The cross-firing between the groups continued for some time. Fortunately, no casualties were reported in the incident, and a heavy police presence is now deployed there to avert any further trouble,” informed another police official privy to the incident. “Six people from both groups have been taken into custody, and efforts are on to nab others involved in the incident after registering an FIR,” he said.

The Bareilly SSP said that two separate FIRs had been lodged regarding the incident. The first FIR was lodged against Rajiv Rana and others based on the complaint of Aditya Upadhyaya, while the second FIR was lodged by the police against both groups. “Inspector-in-charge of Izzat Nagar, Jai Shankar Singh, beat in-charge Rajiv Prakash, as well as four constables, Sunny Kumar, Vinod, Raj Kumar, and Ajay Kumar, have been suspended for negligence in the incident, and a departmental inquiry have been initiated against them,” he added.