Shamli firing incident: 200 people booked for the death of eight-year-old boy

Muzaffarnagar: Another person was arrested on Wednesday in connection with the death of an eight-year-old boy in Shamli district during celebratory firing by SP workers even as 200 unidentified persons were booked in the case. The accused, identified as Aslem, was nabbed in Kairana area on the basis of a video clip of the firing incident that took place last week, Circle Officer Nishank Sharma said. [caption id=“attachment_2619896” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Representational image. PTI[/caption] This is the fifth arrest made in the case so far. As many as 200 unidentified persons have been booked under section 147 (rioting), 148 (Rioting, armed with deadly weapon), 149 and 143 (unlawful assembly), and 188 (Disobedience to order duly promulgated by public servant) of IPC in this connection yesterday, SP Vijay Bhushan said. Police have also announced a reward of Rs 5,000 for any information on other five absconding accused - Gayyur (the husband of the newly-elected block pramukh), Saleem, Mumtaz, Mehtab and Nafis. Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav has announced a financial assistance of Rs five lakh to the kin of the boy killed in firing, an official spokesman said here. The CM said that the guilty will not be spared and strict action will be taken against them. Four other accused had been arrested yesterday in this connection on the basis of the clip. The SP workers were celebrating the victory of party candidate Nafisa in the local body polls from the town when eight-year-old Sami, who was passing by Kairana area in a rickshaw, was killed in the firing. SP leader and Kairana MLA Nahid Hasan had been earlier booked along with 30 of his supporters for allegedly threatening the two journalists from a leading English news channel who had gone to cover the incident. Hasan had refuted allegations that he or his aides had attacked the two journalists and said it was an attempt by the opposition to tarnish the image of the ruling party. Hasan has been served a show-cause notice by his party, while the victorious block pramukh was expelled. The incident has invited sharp criticism with the BJP terming the Akhilesh Yadav government as a ‘Mughal sultanate’ that has issued license to its “goons” to do what they want. PTI