Man allegedly shoots wife, two priests dead in Azamgarh

A man allegedly shot dead his wife and two priests during a dispute over a religious ritual in Uttar Pradesh’s Azamgarh district. Police surrounded the house after he locked himself inside with his children and launched efforts to arrest him

Azamgarh:  man allegedly shot dead his wife and two other persons at his residence in a village here on Tuesday before locking himself inside a room with his children, with police surrounding the house and making efforts to apprehend the accused, a senior officer said.

Azamgarh Senior Superintendent of Police Anil Kumar said information was received that a person in Shambhupur village under Ahraula police station fired at three persons, including his wife, using a licensed weapon on Tuesday evening. “The wife of the accused and two other persons have died.”

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As per the information gathered so far, the accused has locked himself inside a room along with his children. Efforts are on to bring the children out safely, Kumar said.

He added that the law and order situation in the area was under control.

According to police sources, local resident Arvind Singh returned home around 6 pm on Tuesday and found his wife Babita Singh (32) engaged in a religious ritual with two priests — Mahendra Pathak (60) and Akhilesh Mishra (50).

Arvind allegedly flew into a rage on seeing the religious ceremony and began verbally abusing his wife and the two priests. The dispute escalated after his wife objected.

Subsequently, Arvind allegedly pulled out his licensed firearm and shot his wife, Babita Singh, first. He then allegedly shot both priests.

After the incident, the accused locked himself inside the house. Upon receiving information, police teams from several stations arrived at the scene and surrounded the house, police sources said, adding that efforts were on to apprehend the accused and bring the children out safely.