Police shot dead a man accused of murdering two boys aged 12 and 6 in Budaun district of Uttar Pradesh on Tuesday. A mob set ablaze a shop belonging to the accused man.
Tension gripped Badaun district as news of the murder spread. The accused man, Mohd. Sajid, is said to have slit the throats of the minors who were brothers and also injured a third brother, aged 8, who managed to escape and share the horror with his parents.
The accused, who runs a barber’s salon near the victims’ house, had killed the boys on their own terrace. The accused was known to the family.
An angry mob gathered after pictures of the bodies started making rounds on social media. The mob set shops run by people of the minority community on fire and also tried to barge inside the religious place of the community.
Police teams were deployed in the area to control the law and order situation.
Bareilly Inspector General Rakesh Kumar said that police immediately rushed to the spot and managed to catch the accused who attempted to flee. “In a bid to escape, the accused fired at the police and was killed in retaliatory fire,” he said.
Mr. Kumar stated that the motive for the murder is not yet known and the police are investigating the matter.
The residents of the area, however, claimed that Sajid bore ill will against the victims’ mother who ran a beauty parlour in the area.
