A 60-year-old woman and her son were shot dead by three assailants in a Meerut village, just a day before she was scheduled to testify in court on Thursday in a case over her husband’s murder in 2016, police said.
One of the accused was arrested late on Wednesday night while five policemen – including a station house officer – were suspended for failing to provide security to the mother and son despite threats.
Nichhatar Kaur, 60, and her son Balwinder, 26 were eyewitnesses to the murder of her husband, Narender Singh, who was allegedly shot dead by a close relative for not supporting him in the panchayat election.
Video clip goes viral
A police said, Balwinder was shot dead around 3 pm close to his house and his mother was gunned down outside their house in Sarokha village of Partapur area, about 20 km from Meerut.
A video clip of the incident caught on CCTV was widely circulated through social media and messaging apps, leading to the arrest of one Golu
Family enmity
Meerut senior superintendent of police Manzil Saini said the victims received eight gunshots.
Partapur police station SHO Raghuraj Singh – who was latter suspended — said the incident was the fallout of an enmity which started a few years ago during the election of the village pradhan.
People close to the family said Balwinder had sought police security “three-four times” in view of the threat. He had also installed CCTV cameras in their premises.
Reports said one of the two absconding accused has been identified as Maange, elder brother of the man accused of killing Narender.
(With agency inputs)
Source: HindustanTimes