Moment politician and his son are shot dead by angry villagers while inspecting road being built ‘through locals’ fields’ in India
- Chote Lal Diwakar and his son Sunil were killed in northern Uttar Pradesh today
- Footage shows an angry confrontation between the gunmen and the visitors
- Reports say the villagers were angry over a planned road crossing their land
An Indian politician and his son were shot dead in broad daylight in a row over a new rural road today.
Chote Lal Diwakar and his son Sunil were killed after an angry encounter with locals while inspecting the road in Uttar Pradesh.
Footage shows the two gunmen arguing with the visitors before they eventually open fire, killing Diwakar and his son.
Reports say the locals were enraged because the visiting politician was responsible for a new road which was set to cut across their land.
Confrontation: Two gunmen brandished rifles (left) while the visitors (one of whom is seen with his back to the camera, right) argued with locals about a new rural road
A two-minute video of the clash shows the two gunmen holding rifles, one wearing a white shirt and one in a pink shirt.
In an angry scene, a crowd of people were gathered on a narrow path as the gunmen held a lengthy argument with the visitors.
Some people appeared to be trying to calm the gunmen, who at one point turned their backs and started walking in another direction.
But the argument soon resumed as some of the people close to the camera holder followed the gunmen down the path.
After stopping and turning around, the two gunmen suddenly aimed their weapons and opened fire.
The gunfire prompted the cameraman to run away and the footage to end, but only after the corpse of one of the victims was seen on the ground.
The gunmen continued to hold up their weapons as the argument went on (left), although at one point they started walking in another direction (right)
After stopping and turning around, the two men suddenly aimed their weapons and fired – killing the visiting politician and his son
According to NDTV, the politician and his son were inspecting a road which cuts across a field near a village in Sambhal district.
The gunmen were furious because the road was set to cut across their land and Diwakar refused to change the route, it is claimed.
The road was being built under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA).
The Press Trust of India, the country’s largest news agency, later reported that two men had been arrested over the shootings.
Police superintendent Alok Kumar Jayswal said the two victims’ bodies had been sent for a post-mortem.
Diwakar belonged to the left-wing Samajwadi Party, which holds a handful of seats in India’s parliament.