Village pradhan accused of assault on advocate shot in leg, held

Agra: A village pradhan was arrested after an encounter in connection with the firing on an advocate in Jalalpur under the Shikohabad police station limits in Firozabad on Saturday.Multan Singh (50), the sitting gram pradhan of Jalalpur, sustained a bullet injury in his leg during retaliatory fire and was taken to hospital under police custody. Police said Singh is wanted in two cases registered at Shikohabad police station related to attacks on advocate Ashish Kumar. As per the complaint, Singh and his associates first assaulted the advocate while he was on his way to collect milk. A fresh attempt on the advocate's life was allegedly made on Jan 15, when the accused opened fire.Following the incident, three police teams were formed under the supervision of the additional SP (rural). Acting on a tip-off, police set up a checkpoint on the Nagla Pohpi road as the suspects were heading towards NH-19 on a motorcycle.SP (Rural) Anuj Chaudhary said that when police signalled the suspects to stop, one of them opened fire with the intent to kill. Police retaliated in self-defence, during which Singh was shot in the leg and held.Singh's associate, Sonu, managed to escape on the motorcycle. Police seized a licensed .315 bore rifle, six live cartridges and two spent cartridges from Singh.Police said Singh has a criminal history, with around half a dozen cases registered at Shikohabad. He is undergoing treatment under police watch, while efforts are on to arrest the absconding accused and other named suspects.