Out on bail, man accused of molestation shoots victim's father dead in Uttar Pradesh

Police said that the National Security Act would be slapped on the accused persons

Allegedly enraged over refusal to withdraw the case of molestation against him, a youth, who had been arrested and later released on bail, shot dead the father of the victim in Uttar Pradesh's Hathras district, about 400 kilometres from here.

The youth, identified as Gaurav Sharma, who was accompanied by three others, shot the father of the victim, identified as Amarish, with bullets while the latter was working in the fields near his village in the district on Monday evening. Amarish was rushed to the district hospital where the doctors declared him dead.

While one of the accused was later arrested, the search was on for the others, police said.

According to the police sources, a case of molestation had been registered against Gaurav two years ago on the complaint of the victim's father. Gaurav was later arrested and spent a fortnight in jail before being enlarged on bail.

Sources said that he had been exerting pressure on the father of the victim to withdraw the case but he refused.

The families of Gaurav, who was also the resident of the same village, and the molestation victim had an argument on Monday morning when they came across during a visit to the nearby temple. In the evening, Gaurav and three others reached the fields, where Amarish was working, and sprayed him with bullets.

Police said that the National Security Act (NSA) would be slapped on the accused persons.

The Opposition parties reacted strongly to the incident and said that the law and order situation in the state had turned for the worse. ''This government has failed on the law and order front....the chief minister is busy in the election campaign and the criminals are roaming on the streets,'' said a senior Samajwadi Party (SP) leader here on Tuesday.