MEERUT: A 65-year-old man was shot dead by three men inside Shaikhpan mosque located in Khurja region of Bulandshahr early on Friday. The victim, Mohd Idrees died on the spot.
Speaking about the incident, inspector general of police (Meerut) Pravin Kumar told TOI, "Based on preliminary investigation, personal rivalry appears to be the reason behind the killing. Idrees had earlier filed three criminal cases against one of the accused, Mohd Sarfaraz, who belongs to the same village. He came out on bail two weeks ago."
"It all started with a business rivalry between the two junk dealers, Idrees and Sarfaraz. Investigations have revealed that Idrees's son Mohd Irfan had filed an extortion case against Sarfaraz in 2019. As he came out of the jail on bail, another case was filed and that again landed him in prison. In all, this happened thrice, due to which Sarfaraz had to spend more than 18 months in jail. Sarfaraz's family claimed all the cases were fake and he was framed to ensure supremacy of Idrees's family in the junk dealing business in the region. And out of desperation, Idrees was shot," said a senior cop in Bulandshahr, who is privy to the case.
The murder caused panic in the mosque compound as scores of devotees were also praying inside at the time of the shootout. Idrees's son later filed an FIR against Mohd Sarfaraz, his brother Umaruddin and their father Raeesuddin. A case of murder has been registered and a probe is on, said police.
SSP (Bulandshahr) Shlok Kumar said, "We have constituted multiple teams to arrest the accused, raids are being conducted on possible hideouts."
