One suspect held in Ballia village shootout

In a recent development to the Ballia firing incident, police have arrested one accused named in the FIR while all police personnel who were deployed at Panchayat Bhawan have been suspended. UP BJP MLA Surendra Singh, on the other hand, has defended the accused and demanded a CB-CID probe in the matter.

Ballia: Varanasi Zone ADG Brij Bhushan said that one of the accused named in the FIR in the Ballia firing incident has been arrested by the police on Friday.

"The shootout which took place on Thursday is a sad and unfortunate incident. No accused will be spared and strict action will be taken against them. All the police personnel who were deployed at Panchayat Bhawan have been suspended," he stated.

Meanwhile, an Uttar Pradesh MLA has come out in support of the main accused in Thursday's firing incident in Reoti area of the district that left a 46-year-old man dead.

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Jaiprakash alias Gama was killed when Dhirendra Pratap Singh opened fire over a dispute that ensued during a meeting at Panchayat Bhawan for the selection of ration shops in Durjanpur village in the Reoti area in Ballia district.

The incident took place in the presence of the sub-divisional magistrate (SDM) and the circle officer (CO) of the area.

BJP MLA from Bairia Assembly seat Surendra Singh on Friday defended Dhirendra Pratap Singh, who is the district unit president of the BJP ex-servicemen cell, and demanded a CB-CID probe in the matter.

"Dhirendra Pratap Singh opened fire in self-defence or else dozens of his family and associates would have been killed... He had no other option. It was a do-or-die situation for him," the BJP legislator told reporters here.

Surendra Singh, who has made controversial statements in the past, accused the administration of bias.

He said that six people from Dhirendra Pratap Singh's group were injured in the incident and one of them was hospitalised in Varanasi but nobody was listening to them.

The BJP MLA said that he will write to Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and also meet him to demand a CB-CID probe.

(with Agency input)

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