UP: Video of murder of SP leader and son in Sambhal district goes viral; dispute was over road under MGNREGA

Sambhal: A disturbing video has gone viral on social media showing Samajwadi Party leader Chhotelal Diwakar and his son, Sunil Diwakar, being shot dead in broad daylight in Sambhal district of Uttar Pradesh. The murder that took place on Tuesday was likely due to a disagreement over constructing a road under the MGNREGA scheme.

Notably, Chhotelal Diwakar (50) was given the ticket by the SP to contest the 2017 Uttar Pradesh Assembly Elections from Chandausi constituency. However, the seat later went to the SP's alliance partner.

The double murder occurred in Shamshoi village, which falls under the jurisdiction of Bahjoi police station. The incident has left the district residents in shock.

The two-minute-and-30-second clip shows two rifle-clad men - one wearing a white shirt and the other donning a pink shirt - arguing with the politician while walking.

A man can be heard as saying "goli chala (open fire)". Just a few seconds later, the two men aim their gun at the politician and his son, shooting them dead.

Diwakar’s family members said that the father-son duo had gone to the fields to take a walk.

"Chhote Lal Diwakar, the pradhan of Sansoi village, had some tussle with former pradhan over MGNREGA road work. Father and son died on the spot in bullet firing. Bodies have been sent for post-mortem. An FIR has been filed. Three teams have been formed to probe the double murder. Some people have been detained. Probe is on," said Superintendent of Police (SP) Yamuna Prasad.

The incident has been condemned by former Samajwadi Party MP Dharmendra Yadav. He further called Diwakar a dedicated party worker. 

Targeting the BJP government, Yadav said: "After the murder of our dedicated worker today, it has been a proved that police is sheltering the criminals, and members of the opposition party, especially the Samajwadi Party, are being targeted."