A man accused of shooting dead his wife and two priests in Uttar Pradesh’s Azamgarh district has been killed in a police encounter after he allegedly held his own children hostage. The accused, identified as Arvind Singh, was shot by police late Tuesday night while he was allegedly trying to escape. He died some time later.
According to reports, Arvind had held his children hostage to prevent police from arresting him and had also shot his son. The injured boy was taken to a hospital, where he later succumbed to his injuries.
Arvind Shot Wife, Two Priests
The incident took place at around 6 pm on Tuesday when Arvind reached his home. His wife, Babita Singh, was performing a religious ceremony at the time. Two priests, 60-year-old Mahendra Pathak and 50-year-old Akhilesh Mishra, had also arrived at the house for the puja.
Arvind reportedly became angry after seeing them and got into an argument with his wife. The dispute escalated, following which he allegedly shot Babita with his licensed firearm. He then opened fire on the two priests as well.
Held Three Children Hostage After Killings
Arvind’s three children were also present in the house at the time of the incident. After the shootings, he took all three children into a room and locked the door.
ADG Naveen Arora said police made several attempts to persuade Arvind to come out of the room and release the children. However, he refused to surrender or let the children go.
After around seven hours of continuous negotiations and efforts, police decided to wait until morning. Police personnel remained deployed at the spot throughout the night and maintained a state of alert.
The ADG said that preparations were underway outside when police heard gunshots coming from inside the room. At that point, police had no option but to intervene as three children were inside and had to be rescued.
The police team used stun grenades and tear gas before breaking open the door and entering the room. Arvind allegedly fired four to five rounds at the police team. He was carrying a six-round revolver and had fired all the rounds.
Arvind Shot Son, Used Daughter As Shield
Police personnel fired three to four rounds in retaliation. Arvind’s son had already sustained a gunshot wound.
According to the ADG, Arvind was using his elder daughter as a shield while the younger daughter slipped from his hand and fell down.
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: abplive.com
