Ghaziabad: Father-son duo shot dead over water tussle; 3 arrested

Ghaziabad: A 48-year-old man and his 26-year-old son were allegedly gunned down, and his younger son, aged 18, is battling for life at a hospital due to bullet injuries after they were attacked by several armed assailants following a dispute over water distribution from a sub-canal near Niwari town, Ghaziabad on Friday night.

Three of the seven suspects have been arrested. Police said the body of Pappu (single name), the father, was fished out from the sub-canal around 9am on Saturday and that of his son, Mohammad Shahnawaz, around 11.30pm by local divers. Pappu’s younger son, Chand Mohammad, is on ventilator-support at a hospital in Meerut, officers said.

According to police, the three ran a mango orchard in Khindora village, Ghaziabad. “Around 7.30pm (Friday), the water in the sub-canal was opened to their farmhouse by suspects, Bittu Tyagi, 30, and Deepak Tyagi, 32, the sons of nearby mango farm owner Sudhir Tyagi. The victims objected to this, and an altercation started, which later led to the murder,” said DCP (Ghaziabad - rural) Vivek Chandra Yadav.

“At that time, the matter was pacified with locals’ intervention. However, hours later when the trio returned to their house and were going back to their orchard on a bike, they were fired upon indiscriminately. Two died and one suffered severe injuries,” the officer added.

Mohammad Sartaj, nephew of deceased Pappu, alleged that both Deepak and Bittu had threatened to kill the trio even after the altercation ended.

“While the trio was coming back to their orchard around 10pm, they were fired upon by several armed suspects. There were about 6-7 armed men on bikes. Chand sustained about 4-5 bullets. But he somehow escaped and sought locals’ help. However, Pappu and Shahnawaj fell injured. The suspects dragged them from the road and threw them in the sub-canal,” Sartaj added.

On Saturday morning, hundreds of locals from Dhaulri gathered in large numbers, demanding immediate arrests in the case. Police, however, stopped them from approaching the Muradnagar Upper Ganga Canal area in Ghaziabad in the afternoon.

“They dispersed after being assured of a strict action against the suspects,” said DCP Yadav.

“On Friday, during the attack on the trio, multiple rounds were fired by armed suspects... We deployed two platoons of provincial armed constabulary and two quick response teams in Niwari and Khindora besides police force from several police stations was also deployed. A strong police force was also deployed by the Meerut police as a precautionary measure in Dhaulri. Three suspects, Sudhir Tyagi and his two sons, Deepak and Bittu were arrested on Saturday and booked for murder,” the officer added.

Following the victim family’s complaint, police have registered a first information report under Indian Penal Code sections 147 (rioting), 302/34 (murder with common intention), 120b (criminal conspiracy), 307 (attempt to murder), among others at Niwari police station in Ghaziabad.

Seven suspects, including three arrested ones, have been named in the FIR, officers said.

Several teams are trying to arrest the absconding suspects, the DCP said.