An eight-year-old girl was killed when a group of seven to eight people allegedly stormed into the house of a dairy owner and opened indiscriminate firing over an “old rivalry” in Uttar Pradesh’s Meerut on Sunday night. Two of the accused were arrested soon after, the police said.
Aafia Tyagi was a student of Class 2 at a local school in Sardhana tehsil’s Kaland village. Hit by a bullet in the chest, she was rushed to a hospital where doctors declared her dead.
The police said the dairy owner Tehseen Tyagi, 42, and his three other children hid themselves but Aafia could not escape when assailants attacked the house.
Sanjay Kumar Jaiswal, Station House Officer of Sardhana police station, said a first information report (FIR) was lodged against eight men, of which three have been named. “We have arrested two of them and are conducting raids at possible hideouts. We hope to nab the others soon,” he said.
The police said earlier on Sunday, Aafia’s brother Sahil Tyagi, 18, had gone to the village market where he got into a fight with Mehsoor, 19, Kaif, 17, and others. However, villagers intervened and pacified them.
In the FIR, Tehseen said, “At around 8 pm, we were preparing to have dinner when seven to eight people carrying firearms stormed into my house and started firing at us. We somehow saved ourselves from the bullets but did not realise that my youngest daughter Aafia was left behind.”
“She was standing near the stairs when a bullet hit her chest. When villagers rushed to our place on hearing the gunshots, the assaulters escaped by brandishing their weapons. We took Aafia to the hospital but she was declared dead on arrival,” the father added.
Awanish Kumar, Superintendent of Police (Meerut-Crime), said, “An old rivalry allegedly led to the attack. We have arrested some of the accused, but the main accused Mehsoor is absconding.”
