KANPUR: A lawyer was shot dead allegedly during the election of Kanpur Bar Association (KBA) on the district court campus on Friday. Police said the lawyer, identified as Gautam Dutt, suffered serious gunshot wounds and was rushed to Lala Lajpat Rai (LLR) Hospital where he died during treatment.
During preliminary investigation it came to fore that soon after the election was cancelled following chaos and skirmishes, two groups of advocates indulged in indiscriminate firing outside Shatabdi Gate of the court campus.
“Advocate Gautam was shot in the firing. He was admitted to LLR hospital, where he died during treatment,” said a police officer.
Meanwhile, soon after the news of the death of the advocate spread, lawyers created a ruckus and demanded immediate arrest of the culprits involved in the firing.
A heavy police force and senior officials rushed to the LLR hospital to maintain law and order.
“Lawyer Gautam Dutt, who was shot at, succumbed to wounds at the LLR hospital. As of now we are in the process of registering FIR. No one is above law. The culprits will be brought to book,” said Commissioner of police Asim Kumar Arun while talking to reporters.
“However, it is yet to be ascertained whether the firing incident was related to cancellation of election or was it a separate issue. Investigations are underway in this regard,” said police further.
Earlier, following utter chaos during voting, the Elders’ Committee on Friday cancelled the election of KBA.
Shankar Dutt Tripathi, a member of the committee, announced on Friday evening that the committee had decided to cancel the election due to gross violation of rules and regulations by the contesting candidates and their supporters at the booths. The fresh date for the election has not been decided yet, he added.
Voting began around two and a half hours late and was closed at 4 pm after reports of chaos in the booths situated in the district court building were received by the committee. The committee somehow managed to collect the ballot boxes from the booths and brought them to its room. The candidates and their supporters too reached there and amidst heated arguments, the committee announced to cancel the elections, leading to firing by some persons.
The voting, which was scheduled on Friday, could not be started in time due to disturbances created by some people, including the candidates, who alleged that the voting process was not properly managed and CCTV cameras were not installed at proper and vulnerable places.
When voting began around 12 noon, a crowd of advocate-members forcibly entered inside some booths. Chaos began in a few booths, especially in booth no. 12 alleging fake voting.
The candidates and their supporters not only blocked the lane leading to the booths but also forced their entry inside them. When the assistant returning officers tried to oust them, they started misbehaving. The situation worsened in the evening at the booths in the court building after which the committee stopped voting and brought back the ballot boxes in their room.
Some candidates and their supporters threw dust inside the elders committee’s room and blamed the assistant returning officers and the committee members for the mess.
After cancellation of the election was announced, two groups of advocates clashed inside the court compound and one group opened fire against another. According to sources, Gautam suffered gunshot injuries and was rushed to the LLR hospital.
The members of the committee termed the incident as unfortunate and said that such incidents degrade the image of advocates.
During preliminary investigation it came to fore that soon after the election was cancelled following chaos and skirmishes, two groups of advocates indulged in indiscriminate firing outside Shatabdi Gate of the court campus.
“Advocate Gautam was shot in the firing. He was admitted to LLR hospital, where he died during treatment,” said a police officer.
Meanwhile, soon after the news of the death of the advocate spread, lawyers created a ruckus and demanded immediate arrest of the culprits involved in the firing.
A heavy police force and senior officials rushed to the LLR hospital to maintain law and order.
“Lawyer Gautam Dutt, who was shot at, succumbed to wounds at the LLR hospital. As of now we are in the process of registering FIR. No one is above law. The culprits will be brought to book,” said Commissioner of police Asim Kumar Arun while talking to reporters.
“However, it is yet to be ascertained whether the firing incident was related to cancellation of election or was it a separate issue. Investigations are underway in this regard,” said police further.
Earlier, following utter chaos during voting, the Elders’ Committee on Friday cancelled the election of KBA.
Shankar Dutt Tripathi, a member of the committee, announced on Friday evening that the committee had decided to cancel the election due to gross violation of rules and regulations by the contesting candidates and their supporters at the booths. The fresh date for the election has not been decided yet, he added.
Voting began around two and a half hours late and was closed at 4 pm after reports of chaos in the booths situated in the district court building were received by the committee. The committee somehow managed to collect the ballot boxes from the booths and brought them to its room. The candidates and their supporters too reached there and amidst heated arguments, the committee announced to cancel the elections, leading to firing by some persons.
The voting, which was scheduled on Friday, could not be started in time due to disturbances created by some people, including the candidates, who alleged that the voting process was not properly managed and CCTV cameras were not installed at proper and vulnerable places.
When voting began around 12 noon, a crowd of advocate-members forcibly entered inside some booths. Chaos began in a few booths, especially in booth no. 12 alleging fake voting.
The candidates and their supporters not only blocked the lane leading to the booths but also forced their entry inside them. When the assistant returning officers tried to oust them, they started misbehaving. The situation worsened in the evening at the booths in the court building after which the committee stopped voting and brought back the ballot boxes in their room.
Some candidates and their supporters threw dust inside the elders committee’s room and blamed the assistant returning officers and the committee members for the mess.
After cancellation of the election was announced, two groups of advocates clashed inside the court compound and one group opened fire against another. According to sources, Gautam suffered gunshot injuries and was rushed to the LLR hospital.
The members of the committee termed the incident as unfortunate and said that such incidents degrade the image of advocates.
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