PIONEER EDGE NEWS SERVICE /Dehradun
The Raipur police on Sunday arrested three men in connection with the July 3 firing incident outside a liquor shop on the Raipur Ring Road that left two people injured. The superintendent of police (Rural) Jaya Baluni said that the attack stemmed from an old rivalry between two groups that began during a wedding ceremony in Bijnor, Uttar Pradesh.
The arrested accused have been identified as Bijnor residents Arun Kumar, Sunny Kumar and Adarsh Singh, who were arrested from the Thano Road area on Sunday. The main accused, Akshay Pradhan, along with some other suspects, is still absconding, police said.
Baluni said that the rivalry started after a clash between Kamendra Sharma and Akshay Pradhan at a wedding in Bijnor. On July 3, both groups came face-to-face on Ring Road, where an argument broke out. As Sharma was leaving the spot, Pradhan allegedly chased him and fired two rounds. One bullet hit Sharma in the leg while another struck Naveen Rana, who was standing nearby, in the shoulder. Both injured men were taken to the hospital and are undergoing treatment.
The case was registered on the complaint of Rana’s friend Diwakar Khanduri. Following the complaint, Dehradun senior superintendent of police Pramendra Dobal formed five police teams to investigate the case. The teams examined CCTV footage, questioned eyewitnesses and gathered information about the accused.
During interrogation, the arrested accused told police that Pradhan had come to Dehradun to meet his associates. Sharma and his friends also reached the area after learning that Pradhan’s group had allegedly threatened one of their friends over the phone. The confrontation soon turned violent, leading to the firing. Baluni said that police teams are conducting raids at different locations to arrest the absconding accused.
