Man shoots wife and two priests dead, holds children hostage; killed in police encounter

LUCKNOW: A man who shot dead his wife and two priests before holding his children hostage was killed in a police encounter in Uttar Pradesh’s Azamgarh. The deceased was identified as Aravind Singh (40), a resident of Shambhuganj village.

The incident began during a religious ceremony at Aravind’s house on Tuesday evening. He shot dead his wife, Babita (32), and priests Mahendra Pathak (60) and Akhilesh Mishra (50). Two other priests who were attending the ceremony escaped unharmed. The priests had been invited to the house by Aravind’s mother to conduct a religious ritual.

Aravind, however, was opposed to the ceremony and questioned the presence of the priests at his house. He also asked them to show their Aadhaar cards. According to the police, an argument broke out and Aravind opened fire on the priests. His wife and the two priests died on the spot. After the killings, Aravind took his three children inside the house and locked the door. As he held the children hostage, a large police contingent was deployed in the area.

Relatives and police officers tried for several hours to persuade him to release the children, but he refused, DIG Sunilkumar said. Aravind neither agreed to release the children nor allowed them to leave the house. He reportedly told the police to withdraw and said the issues could be resolved the next day.

The police launched an emergency rescue operation after gunshots were heard from inside the house. After using stun grenades and tear gas, the police broke open the door and entered the house. Aravind allegedly opened fire at the officers, following which the police retaliated. Aravind and his eight-year-old son Shaurya were injured in the exchange of fire. They were taken to the district hospital, but doctors could not save them. Aravind’s 10-year-old daughter Pari and 11-month-old Sanvi were rescued safely by the police.

District Magistrate Ravindra Kumar, SP Anil Kumar, DIG Sunil Kumar Singh and Varanasi Zone ADG Naveen Arora reached the spot and supervised the operation. A commando team was also deployed along with forensic experts to assist in the rescue operation.

The bodies of those killed were sent for post-mortem examination. Forensic experts also reached the scene and collected evidence. No police officer was injured in the encounter, according to the information available.