By IANS,
Ghaziabad : Four people were critically injured Thursday when three assailants, posing as lawyers and believed to belong to a rival gang, opened fire at a person undergoing trial in the Ghaziabad district court complex, police said.
The three assailants, in the attire of lawyers, entered the court premises at 11.30 a.m. to attack Udham Singh, who has at least 47 criminal cases registered against him in different police stations of Meerut, Baghpat, Muzaffarnagar and Ghaziabad.
As Udham Singh was coming out of the court after signing his attendance in the register, the three assailants opened indiscriminate firing at him, critically injuring him and three other passersby.
Hearing the sound of gunshots, Provincial Armed Constabulary (PAC) personnel stationed at the court rushed to the spot and engaged the assailants in a shootout.
Two of the attackers have been arrested with arms and ammunition, while one of them managed to escape, police said.
The incident occurred on the first floor of the court of the additional district & sessions judge (ADJ) Ghaziabad under Kavi Nagar police station.
Udham Singh, who had surrendered after killing his rival Pramod Bhadora a year back, was injured in the attack. His assailants belonged to Bhadora’s gang.
“It is the outcome of an ongoing gang-war between Udham Singh and Yogesh Bhadora gangs operating in the Meerut-Muzaffarnagar-Baghpat area. We have arrested two assailants while the third one escaped,” said City Superintendent of Police (SP) Shiv Shankar Yadav.
Those arrested have been identified as Sachin Teotia and Parth Sharma, both residents of Meerut.
“Three weapons – two revolvers, one of .32 calibre and another one of .38 calibre and a country-made double-barrel pistol of .315 calibre – have been recovered along with a dozen live cartridges from them,” the SP said.