Samajwadi Party leader, son shot dead in Uttar Pradesh's Sambhal following dispute over construction of road under MGNREGS; two held

Two persons have been arrested in connection with the murder of a Samajwadi Party leader and his son, who were shot dead in Uttar Pradesh's Sambhal district on Tuesday after a dispute with a group of villagers over the construction of a road.

The two who have been arrested are among eight people who have been booked in connection with the double murder, police officials told PTI.

Representative image. ANI

Chhotelal Diwakar (50) and his son Sunil Kumar (28) were shot dead due to a dispute over the construction of a road under the rural employment generation scheme MGNREGS in the village, PTI quotes Superintendent of Police (SP) Yamuna Prasad as saying. The bodies have been sent for autopsy, the officer said.

An FIR has been lodged against eight people, including two unidentified persons, under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), including 302 (murder), based on a complaint by the victim' s second son Sachin Kumar, Prasad said.

Two of those named in the FIR — Jitendra Sharma and Sharmendra Sharma — have been arrested. The others named in the FIR are Ramendra, Upendra, Gyandendra and Gajendra Singh and efforts are being made to arrest them, the officer said.

According to ANI, SP district president Firoz Khan said that the deceased, Chhote Lal Diwakar, was the party's candidate for the elections in 2017. However, he did not contest the elections as the seat went to the coalition party.

Former Samajwadi Party MP Dharmendra Yadav accused the BJP government and the police of sheltering criminals.

"After the murder of our dedicated worker today, it has been proved that police are sheltering the criminals, and members of the opposition party, especially the Samajwadi Party, are being targeted," PTI quotes Yadav as saying.

With inputs from agencies