Mother, labourer, golgappa vendor: Three lives snuffed out in 48-hour shooting spree in UP

Speaking to The Indian Express, her son, Bhupendra Kumar, a driver, said: “There was no good hospital back home, so a relative advised us to take my mother to Chandauli, to Jeevak Hospital… We came here on May 5. Doctors performed a surgery three days later and said she would need to stay under observation for a few more days.”

On the day of the shooting, Bhupendra said he was sitting next to his mother in the general ward on the first floor. Around 7 am, he noticed a tall, well-built, fair-complexioned man, his face partly covered with a scarf, enter the ward.

Lachmina Devi

“The man stood there for a few seconds… a ward boy asked him to move away from the bed so the patient would not be disturbed,” Bhupendra said.

“Suddenly, he pulled a gun from his waist and shot my mother.”

For a few seconds, he was in shock. The attacker used the opportunity to run.

“The ward boy and I then chased him for nearly 500 metres outside the hospital… he fired at us too. Bystanders rushed to our aid to help catch him,” he said.

Singh was eventually caught and beaten up when he tried to snatch a motorcycle from a man before being handed over to the police.

Bhupendra said he rushed back to check on his mother “… but she was dead… she had been shot in the temple.”

Lachmina is survived by her husband, Videsh Ram, and their seven children — three daughters and four sons.

Bhupendra said they never imagined that seeking better treatment would prove so devastating. “People keep asking us why we took her 55 km away to Chandauli… We are still struggling to understand why that man chose to target my mother.”

Mangroo Chaudhary

‘He wanted to return home’

Mangroo, who was from Ghazipur district in Uttar Pradesh, was on his way home on board the PDD-Tarighat Passenger train. He had spent a week in Karnataka, looking for work, but found the wages were too little.

“My uncle used to survive on odd jobs… some of our relatives working in Karnataka told us they were earning good wages there,” said his nephew, Rameshwar Chaudhary, 30.

He left on April 26.

Rameshwar said Mangroo’s hopes quickly faded after a few days of work. “He realised the pay was far less than he had expected and wanted to return… but we told him to stay for at least a few months,” he said.

“Then, on May 8, he called his wife from a railway station, saying he was coming back. That was his last conversation with the family.”

According to railway police, on May 10, officers were alerted that a man had been shot dead inside a moving train and that the attacker had thrown his body from the coach before jumping off and escaping. His body was later found on the railway tracks.

“I heard the man who killed my husband has been shot dead, but that brings me no relief,” said Mangroo’s wife, Soni Devi. “The breadwinner of our family is gone.”

Mangroo is survived by his wife and their two young daughters.

Vinesh Shah

‘Senseless killing has left us shaken’

Vinesh, who hailed from Bihar’s Gaya, was on his way to Hardoi for a satsang; he was travelling with three women relatives on the Jammu-Tawi Express.

His brother, Samarjeet Kumar, said he frequently travelled to UP for religious events. “In the early hours of Monday, we received a call from railway police informing us that he had been injured. Later, we learned that he had died.”

The railway police said during the probe, it was found that Vinesh was sitting near the door when the attacker shot him dead shortly after the train departed the station. The assailant then jumped from the moving train and fled.

Police later recovered three train tickets from Vinesh’s possession and learnt that three women were travelling with him. They told the police that they were in the general compartment but Vinesh moved to sleeper coach due to the crowd.

Vinesh studied till Class VII; he is survived by his wife, Usha Devi, and their three daughters.

“Our family has been devastated by his death… Vinesh was the eldest of the three brothers, and his word was always final,” said Samarjeet. “This senseless killing has left us shaken.”

Police, meanwhile, are equally in the dark over the three murders.

Before his death, they managed to question Singh. This is what he told him: he was from Tarn Taran in Punjab and was a sepoy in the Indian Army, but he was dismissed in 2021, police claimed.

Last month, he said he landed a job as a security guard in Bihar’s Arrah district. “But he was fired within a few days over his alcoholism,” said police.

Police said Singh left Bihar on May 9 and travelled to Prayagraj and Chandauli by train — carrying out the killings.

After he was caught, as part of crime scene reconstruction, police said the accused was taken to the site where the first victim’s body had been recovered.

Police claimed Singh suddenly snatched a pistol from one of the officers and opened fire at the police team. Police said they retaliated in self-defence, shooting him in the chest — he was declared dead at the hospital

Chandauli Superintendent of Police, Akash Patel, said police have so far found no clear motive behind the three killings. All Singh told the police was that he was disturbed and frustrated, and killed random people for no reason.