Death to killers only justice: Bahraich victim's wife

Lucknow/Bahraich (UP), Oct 18 (PTI) The wife of the man shot dead in Bahraich on Friday said she will get justice only when her husband's killers are dead.

Roli Mishra also accused the authorities of taking bribes to deny "justice" to her.

The wife of 22-year-old Ram Gopal Mishra, who was killed in a gun attack in Bahraich on Sunday, in a message on social media said, "We want justice, but we are being denied it. Authorities have taken bribes." She said her husband's killers, though nabbed, were yet to be killed.

"We have been shown that they have got bullet wounds on their legs, but justice is not being done to us," Roli Mishra said.

Ram Gopal Mishra was part of a Durga idol procession passing through the Maharajganj area on Sunday when he was shot during a Hindu-Muslim confrontation.

A video which circulated after the incident showed him removing a green flag from the rooftop of a house in a frenzy and supplanting it with a saffron flag. He was shot immediately afterwards.

The district teetered on edge for days in the wake of the killing with incidents of arson and vandalism witnessed from across its areas.

Five men suspected to be involved in Mishra's death were arrested on Thursday after an encounter with the Uttar Pradesh Police in which two of them suffered gunshot injuries.

The five were allegedly trying to flee to Nepal, which shares a border with Bahraich.

The gunfight took place in the Hada Basehari area under the Nanpara police station limits near the Nepal border, according to the official. Hada Basehari is around 15 km from Rupaidiha -- a transit point between India and Nepal.

Director General of Police Prashant Kumar had on Thursday identified those arrested as Mohammad Faheen, Mohammad Sarfaraz and Abdul Hameed, who are named in the FIR.

Two others, Mohammad Taleem alias Sabloo and Mohammad Afzal, were nabbed later.

According to Kumar, a police team arrested Faheen and Taleem who gave the location of the weapon used in the crime in the Nanpara area. However, when a team went to the spot to collect it, it came under fire from Hameed, Sarfaraz, and Afzal.

In retaliatory firing, Sarfaraz and Taleem were injured.

"They are being treated. The weapon used in the murder has been recovered," police said. PTI NAV VN VN