Gunmen spray Jhansi bizman’s SUV with bullets; 1 dead, 3 hurt

KANPUR: Unidentified gunmen, wearing masks, fired indiscriminately at controversial businessman Sanjay Verma and his aides on the crowded Kutchery intersection in Jhansi, about 230 km from here, on Saturday killing one of his aides and injuring three others, including Verma.

Jai Goswami, one of Verma’s close aides, was killed in the firing. The injured were admitted to the Jhansi Medical College. The gunmen, three in number, came on two motorcycles and began firing at Verma’s vehicle from a close range, eye witnesses told police.

The vehicle went out of control and rammed into a stationary truck.

Police said more than 15 shots were fired on the SUV in which Verma and his aides were travelling from a local court to a petrol pump in Navabad police area.

SSP Jhansi Vinod Kumar Singh said semi-automatic weapons were used in the attack and the police were investigating the case.

Verma has a long criminal history with eight cases, including three murders to his name.

He had been named in the murder of one Priya Budhauliya in an FIR with Navabad area police in 2015. He is into property dealing and is also a lawyer.

The murder was said to be over a property dispute, said Devesh Pandey, assistant superintendent of police (ASP), Jhansi.