By IANS,
Lucknow : With the toll in the firing by criminals in Uttar Pradesh’s Baghpat region rising to three, 11 policemen were suspended by the deputy state police chief who visited the district Thursday, officials said.
Two businessmen were killed and six were critically injured when a gang of criminals opened indiscriminate fire in a busy market in Baghpat late Wednesday, the police said.
“The district police chief, B.R. Meena, Circle Officer S.C. Sharma, Inspector Jawahar Lal and eight other policemen have been suspended with immediate effect”, Additional Director General of Police (crime, law and order) Brijlal told reporters after reaching Baghpat Thursday evening.
The four or five men, who were on motorcycles, fired at the shopkeepers in Thatheri Mandi, 300 km from here, and escaped.
“We promise to nab the culprits within the next three days,” he added.
While traders Kishanchand Jaiswal and Sumat died on the spot, another trader, Sanjay, died in a Meerut hospital. The police said semi-automatic weapons were used by the attackers.
The suspended police chief of Baghpat, B.R. Meena, earlier in the day said that the criminals had been identified and would be caught in two days.
Paramilitary forces were deployed in the area following the massive protest by traders who also blocked the Delhi-Baghpat highway for hours after the incident.