Asked to compensate accident victim, man opens fire on crowd

An SUV-borne man allegedly opened indiscriminate fire on the crowd after being involved in an accident near Chinhat trisection on Friday. A bystander was injured in the incident is being treated at KGMU’s trauma centre.
While the assailant managed to flee the spot in the SUV, the movement of the vehicle was tracked within an hour of the incident with the help of Automatic Number Plate Recognition system, the latest tool available with modern control room.The Toyota Fortuner UP 50 AM 0099 belongs to Radhey Shyam native of Azamgarh. Having switched off his phone, Shyam had gone missing after the incident and his flat was found locked.
“We believe that Radhey Shyam was sitting next to the driver and had opened fire,” said circle officer of Gomtinagar area, DySP Satyasen Yadav.
Around 12.30pm, the SUV’s driver allegedly opened the door of the vehicle all of a sudden, due to which Neeraj Verma, who was headed towards Chinhat on a motorcycle, fell on the road. Local shopkeepers, vendors and drivers rushed to the spot to help Verma and asked Shyam, who was sitting beside the driver in the SUV, to take Verma to a nearby hospital. Shyam took Verma to Himalaya Hospital, located a short distance from the accident spot.
“Instead of taking action against the two, sub-inspector Sanjay Singh, who is incharge of Kamta police outpost, insisted that we enter into a compromise,” said Gufraan, brother of the man injured in the incident.
The crowd asked Shyam to bear the complete expenditure of Verma’s treatment but he refused to pay any money.
The angry crowd started mounting pressure, on which Shyam took out a firearm. He then fired six rounds and escaped from the stretch along with the SUV’s driver.
The gunshots injured Qurban Ali, a scrap dealer. The SUV was last spotted near Polytechnic crossing turning towards Munshipulia after the incident. The incident led to pandemonium during peak traffic hours on the busy Faizabad Road. Senior officials including DIG R K Chaturvedi reached the spot.
Police have found that Shyam had been staying at Rapti Apartment in Gomtinagar Extension. The SUV was recovered from the parking of the apartment but the duo was missing from the flat. Shyam’s phone number was also found switched off.
Additional superintendent Durgesh Kumar said, “We have identified few locations where the SUV was seen and alerted cops for further action.”
Later in the evening, incharge of Kamta police outpost Sanjay Singh was suspended.