LUCKNOW:
A barber in Uttar Pradesh’s Badaun allegedly murdered two children living in the neighbourhood and critically injured another. The barber was later killed in an encounter during the intervening night of Tuesday and Wednesday, police informed. The incident sparked massive outrage in the city on Tuesday evening, however, it was reported that the situation is under control now.
The accused has been identified as Sajid, who ran a barbershop in the city opposite the victims’ house in Badaun’s Baba Colony. Sajid allegedly knew their father, Vinod.
The accused entered the victim’s house at around 7:30 pm on Tuesday and asked the family for tea, NDTV cited reporting police. Following his demand, when the mother of the boys went to make tea, Sajid climbed to the terrace where Vinod’s three children Aayush (13), Ahaan (7) and Piyush (6) were playing. He attacked the boys with a sharp-edged weapon, slitting the throats of the two victims, police said.
While Sajid slit the throats of Aayush and Ahaan, killing them on the spot, he also attacked their six-year-old younger sibling, however, he managed to flee the scene. Piyush has sustained minor injuries, said police.
According to the locals, the accused has disputes with Vinod’s family. Vinod Kumar’s wife, who runs a parlour, was alone at home with her three children when Sajid entered the house.
Upon receiving information, the police rushed to the scene, however, the agitated locals did not allow them to take the bodies of the children. The angry locals also set on fire the accused’s shop. Later, heavy police security was deployed in the area and the bodies of the children were sent for post-mortem.
SSP of Budaun Alok Priyadarshi informed that soon after the incident a manhunt was initiated by the UP Police and Sajid was killed in an encounter. The accused tried to escape and fired at the police, but was killed in retaliatory fire, he said.
“The murder weapon and the revolver have been recovered. In the FIR, the family of the deceased children has also named the accused’s brother, Javed. Teams are working to find him and he will be arrested soon. According to the family, the accused had demanded Rs 5,000 from the father of the deceased children,” Budaun SSP Alok Priyadarshi added.
Responding to the brutal murder of his two sons, Vinod said, “I was unaware of the encounter of the accused. He was trying to run away but the police caught him. There were two people. I live outside…We had no interaction with them before. We are unaware as to why this happened…”
Meanwhile, the police officers and security personnel in Budaun conducted a flag march in the city this morning.
