3 of family among 5 shot in Faridabad village

Bijendra Ahlawat

Tribune News Service

Faridabad, September 18

Three members of a family were among five persons shot dead in Palwali village of Faridabad district last night.

Eight others were injured in the attack, reportedly in connection with an old enmity over panchayat elections.

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Twenty of the 27 suspects have been detained, including sarpanch Dayawati and her husband and brother-in-law.

The immediate provocation was a tiff over a minor issue. Around 9.40 pm, a member of the sarpanch’s family reportedly opened fire. “An SIT headed by an ACP and five police teams are probing the case,” said Hanif Qureshi, Commissioner of Police. 

He said around 150 police personnel were posted in the village to maintain law and order. The deceased were identified as Shri Chand (65), his cousin Rajender (60), nephew Ishwar (35) and neighbours Devender (35) and Naveen (30). Dayawati’s husband Virender, alias Billu, and other family members were annoyed with Shri Chand’s family for not voting for her in the last panchayat elections.

The two families were not on talking terms ever since. The issue flared up last night after a dispute over parking by a youth from the sarpanch’s family, said officials. The victims’ family claimed that fire was opened after Rajender, running a shop, asked a motorcycle-borne youth not to drive rashly. A relative of one of the deceased added that a clash later took place between the two groups, who were armed with sharp-edged weapons and sticks.