Ballia,

25 Dec (HS): A shopkeeper was shot dead in a village here, apparently as a

result of a quarrel over the purchase of goods, authorities informed on Friday.

Hours after the event, five persons were

detained following an altercation in which two of the accused were shot in the

legs, according to reports. The event occurred at approximately 10 p.m. on

Thursday in Raghopur village, Ballia district.

According

to the police, Santosh Singh alias Bagi (48), a native of Belsadi village in

Ghazipur district, operated a small business in Raghopur village. On Thursday

night, he was heading home from shutting his store when he was fatally shot

with a country-made handgun. Singh was shot once in the head and once in the

abdomen, according to reports.

Rasra

Circle Officer (CO) Alok Gupta said that the deceased had been submitted for a

post-mortem. According to the CO, a case has been filed against Praveen Singh

of Shekhanpur village in Ghazipur district and two unnamed people under

relevant provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita in response to a complaint

from the deceased's son, Aditya Singh.

Gupta

stated that about 5 a.m. on Friday, a Rasra police squad stopped some

suspicious individuals to investigate, when they reportedly opened fire on the

police team. Police reacted to retaliatory shooting, and the five suspects were

detained.

The

detained individuals were named as Manjeet Singh alias Om Singh (27) of Madhi

village, Sandeep Singh alias Golu Singh (23) of Khajurgaon, Atul Singh alias

Babbu Singh (21), Prabhat Singh alias Bunty (22) and Praveen Singh alias Golu

(27), all of Shekhanpur village. According to the CO, Manjeet Singh and Sandeep

Singh were brought to the district hospital after being shot in the left leg

during the confrontation. Police seized three bikes, a country-made handgun,

and ammunition from the accused's possession. Gupta noted that more inquiry is

underway.

Hindusthan Samachar / Abhishek Awasthi