Lucknow: Post-mortem examinations of three men killed in a shooting triggered by a parking dispute in the Saadatganj area showed multiple bullet injuries, with each victim sustaining two gunshot wounds, police said on Tuesday.
Preliminary ballistic assessment has indicated that around 10 rounds may have been fired during the incident, investigators said. On Oct 26, the confrontation allegedly intensified, with the accused acting together to surround the three men, abuse them and assault them with sticks and stones before shots were fired. The prime accused, Rishabh Shukla (29), was arrested on Monday. Police said a country-made .30-bore pistol and ammunition allegedly used in the crime were recovered from him.
Police said the quarrel had been simmering over the construction of a platform around the banyan tree in front of the accused’s house and the alleged parking of vehicles on adjoining land. Investigators said forensic scrutiny is focused on the weapon, ammunition and the sequence of firing. Police said this examination is expected to help establish whether the recovered pistol was the weapon used and to reconstruct the firing pattern. Police also said preliminary findings suggest that a new magazine was used during the firing.
Six people have been arrested in connection with the triple murder. The seized pistol has been sent to Forensic Science Laboratory for a striation test, which examines microscopic markings left on bullets and cartridge cases to match them with a specific firearm. Investigators suspect the magazine was purchased by Rishabh, and that the weapon was reloaded and fired again during the assault.
Five others were arrested on Tuesday, and two suspects remain at large.
Police described it as an illegal pistol allegedly sourced from Munger in Bihar, and said forensic and investigative work will seek to trace procurement and movement of the weapon. The origin of the firearm is also under investigation.