UP: Chilling details of Budaun barber killing two children emerge; motive not known as yet

A police officer told the media that the accused who fled the murder scene and was hiding in a forest nearby was gunned down in an encounter two hours later by the police. The reason for the gruesome murder is not known though police said that it was probably due to personal enmity between the father of the children Vinod Singh, a contactor and Sajid.

The double murders sparked tension in the city, with residents setting the barber's shop on fire.

Hours later, the assailant, identified as Sajid, was gunned down in an encounter, IG Bareilly range RK Singh told PTI.

Murderous attack

The alleged killer, Sajid, ran a barber shop opposite the victims' house and knew their father Vinod Singh, police said.

On Tuesday evening, Sajid visited their house at 7.30 pm, ostensibly to borrow ₹5,000 for his wife's pregnancy, but Vinod was not at home.

When Vinod's wife Sangeeta left the room to make tea, he allegedly asked the children to show him the beauty parlour located upstairs. When they reached the top floor of the house he turned around and attacked 12-year-old Ayush, Ahaan (8), and Yuvraj (10), with an axe, district magistrate Manoj Kumar told the media.

Ayush and Ahaan died in the attack, while Yuvraj, who managed to escape was rushed to a hospital.

Yuvraj, who is an eyewitness to the incident, claimed that two people came to the house and took his brothers on the terrace. He also told news agency ANI that the accused had tried to attack him but he pushed him away and fled from there.

"The man from the barber shop had come here. He took my brothers upstairs; I don't know why he killed them. He tried to attack me too, but I pushed away his knife, pushed him away and ran down. I suffered injuries in my hand and head. Two people (the accused) had come here," ANI quoted the survivor as saying.

After the incident, the boys' family members and some local residents vandalised shops and damaged a motorcycle.

Killed in police encounter

Meanwhile, Sajid had decamped from the house after killing the boys, and was found wearing the same blood-soaked clothes when he was confronted by police, said news reports.

"Our team came to know about him and chased him. He was seen in the forest of Shekhupur. When our SOG and police station team reached there, he fired at them. In the retaliatory firing he received a bullet wound and died," Inspector general of Bareilly range RK Singh told PTI

Uttar Pradesh director general of police Prashant Kumar explained that the incident took place at around 8.00 pm, when a person named Sajid entered a house located opposite to his shop, and attacked the children there.

"Two children were killed, while one child was injured. He (Sajid) fled from the spot." He added, "The police immediately acted, and cordoned him off. He also fired at the police, and in retaliatory firing by the police, he was injured, and later he died."

The bodies of both the children have been sent for post mortem and the injured child has been admitted to the district hospital.

Kumar said the area is now peaceful and under the watch of IG Bareilly range RK Singh, ADG Bareilly zone, and Bareilly Divisional Commissioner.

The motive?

"The incident took place due to personal enmity, and there is no communal angle to it. We are monitoring the situation, and our social media cell is also monitoring it," he said. However, Vinod has denied any enmity with Sajid.

Asked what could be the motive behind the crime, Sangita told NDTV, "We have no enmity with anybody, I do not know if someone else is behind this. Javed should be questioned in front of us. He should be asked why they did this. Did someone else put them to it?"

One or two accused?

While Uttar Pradesh director general of police Prashant Kumar said there was only one person involved in the attack – Sajid, Vinod Singh, the father of the deceased children, has named Javed (brother of Sajid) as the main accused in his complaint.

On the basis of the complaint, the police registered a First Information Report (FIR). "As per information received at the headquarters, only one person was involved --- Sajid," Kumar said.

What the father said in the FIR

In his complaint, the father alleged that the accused had come to his house to collect money since his wife was pregnant.

“When the children's mother went inside to take money, he said that he was feeling nervous, so he was going for a walk on the terrace. He took one of the children with him. He had a knife in his hand when my wife returned with money. Sajid told Vinod's wife that today I have completed my work,” ANI reported citing the FIR.

Further, the father of the deceased said that he didn't know why the two accused had killed his children.

“Apart from my wife and my mother, many other people in the locality have also seen it, I had no enmity with Sajid and Javed. I don't know why these two killed my children,” he told reporters. However, news reports said that Sajid was involved with disputes with his neighbour Vinod Singh's family all the time.

Vinod Singh who claims that Sajid's brother Javed is also involved in the crime, said that both were running away and "Sajid told my wife that today he had completed his work".

Security deployed

After the killings led to a ruckus in the area and locals protested against the double murder, heavy police security was deployed at the Baba Colony located near the Mandi Samiti outpost.

Badaun district magistrate (DM) Manoj Kumar said some people got agitated after the incident and they were asked to maintain peace.

Police are also monitoring social media to curb the spread of rumours.