Agniveer shot dead in Palwal village over old rivalry

A 20-year-old Agniveer, identified as Baldev of Mandkola village in Palwal district, was allegedly shot dead late on Wednesday night over an old rivalry. Baldev, who had joined the Army under the Agnipath scheme earlier this year, had come home on leave just a day before the incident.

According to police, Baldev was sleeping alone in his ancestral farmhouse located on the outskirts of the village when he was attacked. The assailants allegedly shot him in the head, killing him on the spot. The body was handed over to the family after post-mortem today.

Baldev’s father, Khemchand, alleged that the murder was linked to an earlier attack on his brother, Bishan Sharma.

“Last month, my brother Bishan was attacked by Rajendra, Naresh, Bansi and Manju of our village. A case was registered at Gadpuri police station, but the accused kept pressurising us to withdraw it. They threatened to kill us if we didn’t. I had reported these threats to the police several times, but no action was taken,” he said.

Narrating the sequence of events, he said: “On Tuesday, my son came home on leave. On Wednesday night, when he was sleeping alone in the old farmhouse, Rajendra, Naresh, Bansi, Arun and others barged in and shot him in the head. He died instantly.”

Based on his complaint, an FIR of murder has been registered at Gadpuri police station against the named accused.

Inspector Ashwini Kumar, SHO, Gadpuri police station, said: “We handed over the body to kin after the post-mortem today. A probe is underway and the accused will be arrested soon.”