Village head shot at in Amethi

The pradhan of Chevraha village under the Piparpur police station here was shot at over an old enmity, police said Thursday. Ashok Singh was travelling in his SUV Wednesday evening when he had a tiff with the accused, Prince Singh and Jitendra Singh, over some issue after which the duo opened fire at him, Inspector Shyam Sunder said.

Ashok Singh, who suffered serious injuries, had been referred to the KGMU trauma centre in Lucknow, he said, adding that a case against the two and some others had been registered. The inspector ruled out any political motive behind the crime.

He said both parties had an old rivalry and they had lodged complaints against each other in the past. BJP's district unit president Durgesh Tripathi said neither of the two sides was associated with his party.

Soon after the completion of the Lok Sabha elections, a former gram pradhan, Surinder Singh, close to newly-elected BJP MP Smriti Irani, was shot dead in the district.