UP: 5 held for opening fire, assaulting man in Meerut

Meerut (UP), Sep 19 (PTI) Five persons have been arrested for allegedly opening fire at a man and assaulting him after a dispute between two groups escalated at a village here, police said on Friday.

The incident took place around 8 pm on Thursday Jalalpur village of the Lohiyanagar area, City Superintendent of Police Ayush Vikram Singh said.

"Saqib and his associates allegedly opened fire at Mohit, triggering panic in the area. Police swiftly cordoned off the locality and apprehended all five suspects," he said.

The main accused, Saqib, received a bullet injury during a police encounter in the early hours on Friday, he added.

"When police took Saqib to recover a weapon, he allegedly fired at the team and tried to escape. In retaliatory fire, he received a bullet injury to his leg. He was later admitted to the district hospital," the officer said.

Police in a statement said those arrested have been identified as Saqib (24), Naeem (21), Imran (22), Zubair (20) and Asif (20). A .315 bore country-made pistol, one live cartridge and a spent cartridge were recovered from the accused, it said.

A case has been registered at Lohiyanagar police station and further proceedings are underway, police said. PTI COR CDN OZ OZ