Etah: Tension gripped Vijaypur Devpur in Uttar Pradesh’s Etah district on Wednesday after a 70-year-old former village head was beaten to death in public, allegedly over an old Panchayat election rivalry.
The incident led to a protest at the village, with locals and family members keeping the body at the Aliganj police station for over two hours, demanding the immediate arrest of the accused.
According to police, the victim, Jai Singh, had served as gram pradhan in 1990, 2000 and 2016. He was allegedly attacked with bricks and sticks by the supporters of the current village head, Amit Fauji, while returning home on a motorcycle, police said. Preliminary investigation suggests the assault was linked to a dispute over soil being lifted from a plot belonging to Singh’s son-in-law, Netrapal Fauji, they said.
The argument escalated, and members of the rival faction allegedly surrounded Singh and beat him to death, a police official said. agencies