Balia shootout: Accused refutes allegation, says he was attacked

A BJP worker who allegedly shot dead a man in front of local officials and police during an altercation in Uttar Pradesh Balia, has released a video in which he refutes the allegations against him, and blames the administration for allowing the situation to go out of hand.

Dhirendra Singh, a close aide of BJP MLA Surendra Singh had allegedly shot dead 46-year-old Jaiprakash during a meeting held to discuss allotment of ration shops in Durjanpur village of Balia on Thursday (October 15).

“I don’t know who fired. I was pleading with officials to save my family. They just stood there and watched…I am a soldier. I have always believed in serving my country. I urge the chief minister for a fair probe,” Dhirendra said in the video.

A large number of people were attending the meeting which was being held in a tent and three shots allegedly fired by Dhirendra had triggered chaos and stampede.

“Yesterday, there were a lot of top officials for the meeting. I had warned them earlier that there was going to be violence. But they went ahead with the meeting. Officials were involved in the violence yesterday. They took money,” Dhirendra alleged in the video.

He said local officials and police had not deployed enough security for the meeting and said one of his family members died while eight others were injured in the incident.

“My aged father fell down in the commotion yesterday. My family was targeted with sticks. I was seen being beaten in the video. I am a Rajput, I proudly served the Army for 18 years. I managed to free myself and run away. They wanted to beat me to death over there,” he said.

Defending Dhirendra, who heads the BJP’s ex-servicemen’s unit in Ballia, Surendra Singh on Monday had said that the former fired the shots in self-defence.

“This is a casualty that can happen anywhere. In this incident, there was stone pelting from both sides. The law will take its own course in the matter,” the MLA had said earlier.

Police have booked at least 15 to 20 people in the case and arrested two people including Dhirendra’s brother and detained five others.

A cash award of ₹50,000 is on Dhirendra’s head who is still at large

Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has suspended officials present at the spot including sub-divisional magistrate Suresh Chandra Pal and circle officer of police Chandrakesh Singh.