TARGET WAS SAHIL, SHANTAU KILLED

TARGET WAS SAHIL, SHANTAU KILLED

19-OCT-ENG 6

RAJIV NAYAN AGRAWAL

ARA------------------------------The police have solved the murder case of Shantanu—which took place on Friday night at Pawna Bazaar, under the jurisdiction of the Pawna police station—within 48 hours. The named accused in the case has been arrested from the Sahar police station area. He is identified as Ashwani Kumar Singh, alias Golu, son of Manish Singh, a resident of Pawna village. This information was shared by Sadar SDPO-1 Sushil Kumar during a press conference on Sunday.

According to the police, on the night of October 16 (Friday), around 9:30 PM, Shantanu Kumar—a resident of Badgaon village under the Ajimabad police station area—was visiting his aunt’s house in Pawna village. That night, he was walking at Pawna Bazaar with his cousin, Sahil, and two other friends when three individuals on a motorcycle opened fire, hitting Shantanu. He succumbed to his injuries while being transported to the Sadar Hospital for treatment.

Following this, the victim’s father, Kundan Singh—a resident of Badgaon village—filed an FIR at the Pawna police station, naming Ashwani Kumar, alias Golu, as an accused, along with two other unidentified individuals. Acting on the FIR, the police arrested Ashwani Kumar, alias Golu, from the Sahar police station area.

Sushil Kumar stated that there was an ongoing rivalry between the victim’s cousin, Sahil, and the accused, Ashwani Kumar, alias Golu; both had been accusing each other of trying to assert dominance. Interrogation and technical investigation revealed that the accused had been threatening Sahil over the phone for the past two days, prompting Sahil to stop answering his calls. Subsequently, the accused also called his friend, Rahul Kumar, and issued threats to him over the phone; following this, Rahul stopped answering calls. The accused, Ashwani Kumar alias Molu, has a prior criminal record and was an accused in an attempted murder case, in connection with which he had been absconding.

The police are conducting raids to apprehend the other suspects. Furthermore, it was revealed that on the night of October 16, the accused, Ashwani Kumar alias Molu, arrived at Pavna Bazaar on a motorcycle with his associates, intending to shoot Sahil Kumar. However, when he opened fire, the bullet struck Shantanu Kumar instead.