Liquor smuggler shot dead during gambling in UP's Deoria

Deoria: A liquor smuggler was allegedly shot dead during a gambling session in the Deoria district of eastern Uttar Pradesh in the early hours of Thursday, police said.

The incident took place in the Sohanpur village under the Bankata police station area of the district, sharing the border with Bihar, they said.

Circle Officer (Bhatpar Rani) Shiv Pratap Singh said, “The deceased Ajit Singh alias Jaddi Singh, around 28 years old, was a known liquor smuggler and the village head of Janjeera.” Singh had recently been released from a Bihar jail, where he was imprisoned for liquor smuggling, just 15 days ago.

“Jaddi went to a nearby house in the Sohanpur village on Thursday night for a gambling session on Diwali,” he said, citing preliminary information.

Allegedly, people from Bihar also joined the gambling, and a dispute broke out. During the argument, Jaddi was shot dead, after which the attackers fled the scene, the officer said.

Police have taken the body into custody and sent it for post-mortem.

Several teams, including the Special Operations Group (SOG), have been deployed to apprehend the culprits, police said.

Officials said police were waiting for a formal complaint from the victim’s family.

Police said Jaddi Singh had multiple cases of liquor smuggling against him, with records across various police stations, including Deoria’s Bankata and Bihar’s Guthni and Mairwa.