Amethi (Uttar Pradesh): The district administration has resorted to heavy police deployment in Baraulia village of Uttar Pradesh's Amethi district to avoid any untoward incident, following the murder of Surendra Singh, believed to be a close aide of BJP leader Smriti Irani on May 25, which has led to a tensed situation in the village.
Two suspects in connection with the murder have so far been detained by the police.
"We have detained some suspects in the case. We are getting more information and are acting on it. We have deployed security to ensure that the law and order situation remains under control," said Rajesh Kumar, Superintendent of Police, Amethi.
Kumar added, "Since he had been a village chief, it seems to be a fallout of an old rivalry. We are not ruling out a political rivalry, and are looking into all aspects of the case."
Perplexed at the motive behind the murder, Singh's brother Rajendra Pratap Singh said, "Pradhan Ji used to sleep here alone. He was a friendly person and didn't really have any personal enmity with anyone in particular. He never suspected that such a thing could ever happen to him."
Fifty-year-old Surendra Singh, the former village head of Baraulia, was shot at by two unidentified bike-borne assailants around 3 pm on Saturday, while he was sleeping in the porch of his house after returning from a wedding function.
Meanwhile, Smriti Irani will reportedly visit Baraulia to take stock of the situation.
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Irani, who was elected as a parliamentarian from Amethi constituency in the recently-concluded general elections, defeating three-time MP Rahul Gandhi of the Congress by over 55,000 votes, had earlier allegedly distributed shoes to the village residents to mock Gandhi.
