Lucknow: Two days after retired roadways employee Surendra Pandey (62) was shot dead near Rajanpur village in Sultanpur's Gosaiganj area, police arrested three individuals and sent them to jail on Wednesday.
Sultanpur SP Somen Barma also suspended the Gosaiganj inspector in charge Prem Chand Singh for laxity.
Surendra was returning home with vegetables when two bike-borne assailants intercepted and shot him in the head over a long-standing land dispute. After the attack, the assailants fled the scene on their motorcycle. Barma said Kailash Nath Mishra, Aditya Nath Mishra and Badri Prasad Mishra were involved in the murder and added that there was a dispute between the suspects and the victim over a piece of land, pending in court.
The victim had also given a statement in court about being threatened by the accused party and sought action against them. Barma said despite knowing the matter was sensitive and a land dispute existed, local station house officer, Prem Chand Singh, ignored it and did not initiate any preventive action, hence he was suspended.
A day before his murder, Surendra was constructing a boundary wall around his property, leaving the disputed land untouched. The family suspected the three accused were involved in the killing.
The two families have been embroiled in multiple civil and criminal cases regarding the disputed land. Surendra was the second of five brothers and is survived by his wife, a daughter and a son.