Samajwadi Party leader shot at in Greater Noida, case not registered

Lucknow, June 01: A Samajwadi Party politician Brajpal Rathi has been shot at by unidentified men in Greater Noida on Friday night, within 12 hours of the killing of a local party unit chief in Gautam Buddh Nagar, police said today.

The incident took place when Brajpal Rathi, the party's district secretary was returning to his house in Eta sector in an SUV accompanied by a friend and driver, the police said.

"Rathi (Samajwadi Party leader) was sitting in the second row of the Toyota Fortuner when the unidentified assailants targeted him near the Tilpatta chowk and he got a bullet injury in one of his hands. The men then fled and Mr Rathi was taken to a hospital where he was treated and said to be out of danger," a police spokesperson said.

Surajpur police station, under whose jurisdiction the incident took place, has not registered any case so far in the case as it has not received any complaint, the official said.

Official sources, requesting anonymity, told PTI that it appears to be a "self-hatched" episode by Mr Rathi to get police security again.

Rathi was previously given police security, which was withdrawn with the model code of conduct for the recently-concluded Lok Sabha elections coming into effect, the spokesperson said.

Meanwhile, the office bearers of Samajwadi Party (SP) will be meeting Gautam Buddh Nagar police chief to take up the matter with him.

"We are scheduled to meet the Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) this afternoon where senior party workers, including former Gautam Buddh Nagar lawmaker, Surendra Nagar, will be present," party's district unit chief Veer Singh Yadav said.

PTI