Two persons died, while two others were injured after a few youths opened fired at the staff in a garment shop in a mall in Varanasi over a dispute on Wednesday, police said.
The incident took place at the JHV shopping mall in the high-security Cantonment area of the Uttar Pradesh city. The suspects, alleged to be students of the Kashi Vidyapeeth University, have been identified.
The three suspects entered the branded apparel store and one of them, identified as Alok Upadhyay, inquired about a salesman named Prashant. The suspect then got involved in a brawl with the other staff but was soon overpowered.
A country-made pistol he was carrying was also snatched away, said a witness. Vivek Tripathi, UP police spokesperson, said after finding their friend overpowered, the other two youths tried to rescue him and fired shots at the salesmen and in the air.
Two persons, Gopi Kanaujia and Sunil Kumar, died of bullet injuries, while Vishal Singh and Chandan Sharma, were admitted to hospital and are said to be stable, police said.
"They also fired shots indiscriminately in the mall, after exiting the store," said one of the witnesses. While initially police was told that the firing was triggered by a dispute over discount, a police statement in the evening hinted at a personal enmity.
As per the police, the main accused Alok Upadhyay had a dispute with one of the salesmen Prashant over his friendship with a female staff at the store. The witness also said that the accused had once already assaulted the salesman outside the mall.
Inspector General, Varanasi, Vijay Singh Meena, said the CCTV footage of the mall was being examined. The police is investigating how the three suspects managed to bring in weapons into the mall as frisking is done at the entry.
