Man, son shot dead in spat over watering their farms

Ghaziabad: An argument over irrigating a farm turned fatal for a 55-year-old Meerut resident and his son, who were shot and thrown into a canal in Niwari on Friday evening.
Pappu and his sons Raja (26) and Chand (22) worked as gardeners for Vedprakash Tyagi in Khindora village, Niwari.
The three, police said, were returning to their village, Rasulpur Dhauldi in Meerut, when they were sprayed with bullets.Pappu and Raja succumbed to their injuries, while Chand was admitted to hospital with five bullet wounds.
Sudhir Tyagi, who owns a garden next to Vedprakash Tyagi’s, and his sons Deepak Tyagi and Bittu Tyagi have been arrested in connection with the shootout.
“Cops at Niwari police station received a call on Friday night that several rounds had been fired and someone had been shot on the road between Khindora and Rasulpur Dhauldi. After reaching the spot, our team found Chand alive but critically wounded with five bullets. After searching for a few hours, the bodies of Raja and Pappu, who were shot multiple times, were found in a nearby canal,” said Vivek Chand Yadav, DCP (rural).
In the early hours of Saturday, there was a protest in the village. The family of the deceased and other villagers snatched the bodies from police and protested on the Muradnagar Ganganahar bridge on the Delhi-Meerut road.
Officials ordered a lathi charge to disperse the crowd, took possession of the bodies again and sent them for autopsy. With tension still high in the area, a heavy police force was deployed.
“Investigations have so far revealed that Pappu and his sons had a conflict with Sudhir Tyagi and his sons over sharing water from a canal for irrigating their farms on Friday evening. Vedprakash Tyagi intervened, and the matter was thought to have been resolved. Later that evening, Pappu and his sons were shot while returning to their village,” the DCP added.
A case was registered under IPC Section 302 (punishment for murder) against seven suspects, including Sudhir Tyagi and his sons. “We are working to nab the other suspects. Further investigation is underway,” said Yadav.