Varanasi: 25-year-old man was shot dead and his friend injured after bike-borne assailants allegedly chased them for nearly three kilometres following a dispute over overtaking in Sarsena village under the Chiraiyakot police station area of Mau on Monday evening.After inspecting the spot late at night and going through the statement of the deceased’s friend, Mau SP Kamlesh Bahadur said the preliminary investigation indicated that Avneesh Kumar (25) was attacked with a country-made firearm following the row over overtaking.Several police teams have been engaged in efforts to arrest the assailants at the earliest after sending the body for postmortem, he added.Kumar was riding a motorcycle with his friend Goldy on the pillion when some youths on two bikes allegedly began abusing and following them after their bid to overtake. Goldy informed police that Kumar, who had gone to pick him up from his aunt’s house, left around 4 pm. As they reached Kamthari Road near Sarsena around 5 pm, the assailants surrounded their bike. One of them fired at Kumar with a country-made firearm, hitting him in the forehead.After this, Kumar lost control and the motorcycle overturned, injuring Goldy as well. One of the assailants’ bikes also fell, and the group fled on seeing passersby, leaving it behind.Police from Chiraiyakot and nearby stations reached the spot and took both men to the district hospital, where Kumar was declared dead. Police were examining CCTV footage and collecting details from the abandoned bike to identify the assailants.
