Morena (MP): A local BJP leader was
seriously injured after after he was hit by a bullet
accidentally fired while welcoming party's newly-appointed
party general secretary and MP Narendra Singh Tomar at Ambah
town near here on Sunday, police said.
Range Inspector-General (IG) Sanjay Jha told PTI after
preliminary investigation that one bullet that hit the local
BJP leader was accidentally fired from a gun when policemen
prevented a group of persons trying to open fire.
In the melee a gun belonging to one Umakant Sharma fell
down and went off accidentally with the bullet from it hitting
a person, he said.
The police, however, denied that bullets were fired in
large numbers to welcome Tomar.
The gun was a licenced .315 bore rifle and after the
incident Umakant was arrested and his weapon has been seized,
the IG said.
A case under section 338 of the IPC has been registered
against Umakant and a probe has been ordered into the incident
which will be conducted by Additional Superintendent of Police
(ASP) Anurag Sharma, he said.
Meanwhile, eyewitnesses said a large number of people
carrying guns were standing at the Choudhry Warehouse in Ambah
town to welcome Tomar.
Among them nearly a dozen people were firing in the
air, giving a salute to Tomar during which a bullet hit BJP's
divisional unit vice president Subhash Sharma, they alleged.
The eyewitnesses also alleged that a bullet also hit
the windscreen of Tomar's car when he was on the dais.
Sharma was rushed to the primary health centre for
treatment from where he was taken to Morena District Hospital.
However, doctors at Morena referred him to Gwalior Medical
College Hospital.
However, the IG denied that bullets were openly fired
at the venue.
Main Opposition Congress has demanded a detailed probe
into the firing incident from Madhya Pradesh Director General
of Police (DGP) S K Rout.
In a statement issued in Bhopal, Congress spokesman JP
Dhanopia alleged that nearly 250 people carrying guns were
present at Shivpuri and about 150 at Ambah to welcome Tomar
and demanded a probe into the matter, claiming large number of
people carrying illegal arms had gathered at two places and
fired openly in the presence of the BJP leader.
PTI
First Published: Sunday, March 21, 2010, 23:59