JHANSI: A 40-year-old lawyer was shot at and critically wounded after he allegedly refused to withdraw a case against a ruling Samajwadi Party (SP) leader here on Saturday. He was rushed to the Jhansi Medical College from where he was referred to a Kanpur hospital in a critical condition.

Reports said Madan Babele, 40, had gone to the park along with his son for routine morning walk when he was stopped by six persons, including SP city president Choudhary Aslam Sheikh, and asked to withdraw from a particular case he was fighting against them. When the advocate denied, he was shot at twice by the group. As a critically injured Babele slumped to the ground, the assailants escaped. Other morning walkers present in the park rushed the injured lawyer to the Jhansi Medcal College where he was operated upon. As doctors failed to remove a bullet stuck in one of his lungs, he was shifted to a Kanpur hospital. An FIR was lodged with Nawaband police station against SP's city president Sheikh, two lawyers and three others under sections 147, 148, 149, 307 and 7 Criminal Act.

SSP Shiv Sagar Singh said, "Though FIR has been lodged against the accused, they were all found at their homes during raids after the firing. It seems that they are not involved in the incident. Even the preliminary investigation indicates that they have been falsely implicated. Further action would be initiated only after a thorough probe."

Incidentally, the incident took place around 8 am and the FIR was lodged around 2:30pm and raids were conducted after that.

A few lawyers, on condition of anonymity, said that the incident was a fall out of an old property dispute between the two sides.

This is the second attack involving an SP leader in the district within a month. On June 21, husband of SP MLA from Mauranipur Pushpa Rai had beaten up deputy director of agriculture department Vinod Kumar Rai after the latter refused to revoke transfer of an employee. Since then Rai's family had been living under virtual house arrest fearing more retribution. An FIR in this regard was lodged on June 30 only after the intervention of chief secretary. On July 4, 2014, Rai had held a press conference to narrate his woes and administration's apathy.

Rai had claimed that the accused had threatened to kill them if they ventured out of the house and that despite repeated attempts administration had not taken any action against the accused.

