A man was reportedly shot dead at the flat of Samajwadi Party MLC from Shahjahanpur Amit Yadav last night. The incident took place during a birthday party that was going in the flat late in the night. According to reports, five friends had organised a birthday party at the flat belonging to Yadav in La Place Apartments at Hazratganj, Lucknow.
Gunshot hit the victim in the face
A man named Rakesh was shot dead during the party. Some reports claim that a person named Vinay who was present in the party was testing his gun when the shot was firs by mistake and hit Rakesh. Some other reports say that there was a tussle between few people present there including the victim and the victim was hit when he was trying to snatch the pistol. The victim was rushed to KGMU hospital where he died during treatment. His body has been sent for postmortem. All the persons were under heavy influence of alcohol at the time of the incident. Police found 20 cans of beer at the flat.
Vinay told two versions of the story
Police received the information about the incident around 2 AM in the night. The people present in the party have been identified as Vinay Yadav, Gyanendra Kumar, Aftab Alam and Pankaj Singh apart from the victim. According to police, all five people reached at the flat around 8 pm yesterday. Pankaj Singh, who is the brother of the MLC, has been living in the house for five years. Vinay had called at 100 and 112 numbers in the night informing that Rakesh was accidently hit by a bullet while he was showing the pistol to someone else. He again dialled 112 later and said that the shot was fired by him by mistake. He told that Rakesh was taken to the trauma centre.
Pistol belonged to Pankaj Singh
Police have arrested all four people. During initial interrogation, police were told that the pistol was brought by the victim himself who then handed it over to Vinay. The shot was fired by mistake when he was testing it. On further interrogation, the police found that the pistol belonged to Pankaj Singh and it was already kept at the flat. He also had two magazines. Under the influence of alcohol Pankaj Singh brought the pistol from other room and Rakesh started to examine it. Vinay asked Rakesh to give him the pistol and in the ensuing tussle a shot was fired by mistake that hit Rakesh.
Statement of the MLC
Samajwadi Party MLC Amit Yadav said that Pankaj Singh used to live in the flat and that the incident took place during a birthday party yesterday. He said that he did not have further information as he was at his house in Shahjahanpur. DCP Central Somen Verma informed that a magazine and two cartridges have been recovered and the investigation was underway. Victim’s family have been informed about the incident.