Teacher shot at over poll rivalry

Kanpur: A basic school teacher was shot at and was critically injured in Kannauj district on Sunday evening.
Himanshu Kumar, a native of Shankarpur in Saurikh police area, and an assistant teacher posted at Gapchariyapur Basic school, had gone to his nearby fields. “On the way, he was waylaid by nine assailants, riding separate bikes, who opened indiscriminate firing on him leaving him critically injured,” said police.
Hearing the gun-shot sound, villagers rushed to Himanshu’s rescue. After a brief chase, the villagers managed to nab one of the assailants. The firing led to tension in the area. Senior police officials rushed to the spot with a large police force. The injured teacher was admitted to a hospital in Chhibramau.
Preliminary findings revealed that enmity with his rivals in the recently concluded panchayat elections could be the cause behind the attack, informed the police.
“We will lodged an attempt to murder case and have detained few suspects in this connection. The main accused are still on the run,” said inspector Saurikh Poonam Awasthi.