Lucknow: Two men, accused of carrying out a deadly shooting over an old rivalry, were arrested in a police encounter near Rampur Canal Tiraha in Sultanpur in the wee hours of Sunday within 24 hours of the attack.Both the accused sustained bullet injuries in their legs, while a police inspector narrowly escaped after a bullet grazed his left shoulder.According to the police, the accused opened fire when they were intercepted while travelling on motorcycles. Inspector Chandrabhanu Verma of Motigarpur police station came under fire during the exchange, with a bullet passing close to his shoulder. The police retaliated, injuring and arresting Shivam Singh, a resident of Mudaha and Ratan Nishad of the same area.The police also arrested Satyam Gautam, while another suspect Raman, a resident of Bariyapur in Dostpur, escaped by taking advantage of the darkness. Teams have been conducting raids to trace him.The police recovered an illegally procured pistol, a country-made .315-bore firearm, cartridges and a motorcycle from the suspects. Investigators said Shivam had purchased the illegal pistol for ₹74,000. Three criminal cases are already registered against him, while Ratan has two previous cases against him.Earlier, on Thursday night the shooting occurred in the Motigarpur area when Vipin Singh, son of Indrasen Singh, was attacked over a long-standing family rivalry. He suffered serious gunshot injuries and was referred to Lucknow, where he is undergoing treatment.Vipin had been working privately at a coal mine in Madhya Pradesh and had returned home for Raksha Bandhan. His uncle Dan Bahadur Singh subsequently lodged a complaint, following which police registered an attempted-murder case against a named accused and two unidentified persons.Following the incident, superintendent of police Vineet Jaiswal directed police teams to arrest those involved at the earliest.The police said the preliminary investigation indicates a longstanding dispute between the families of Shivam Singh and Indrasen Singh. Investigators are now searching for the absconding suspect and probing the involvement of other persons as well as the circumstances and motive behind the attack. The two accused are undergoing treatment at a community health centre in Motigarpur.
