Two people were killed and as many were injured after an armed gunman opened fire at a shopping mall in Uttar Pradesh’s Varanasi on Wednesday, 31 October.
The shooting took place at a garment shop in the JHV shopping mall in the city’s cantonment area.
According to a senior police official, the gunmen and two of his accomplices got into a scuffle with a salesman in a garment store in the mall, following which one of the men opened fire, that led to the death of two people. All three managed to flee the area after the incident, he said.
The police told the media that they have identified one of the assailants and have launched a probe.
“We are examining the CCTV footage and a thorough investigation will be done," the police official said.
The victims were taken to hospitals where two succumbed to their injuries.
Police Exploring Two Theories Behind Shooting
Police officials told the media that the probe into the incident will account for two theories.
One, that the scuffle was a result of an argument over the discount options at the store. And two, that the assailant had previously known the salesman at the store, thereby suggesting a pre-meditated attack.
Meanwhile, a video accessed by The Quint seems to lay credence to the second theory, suggesting a pre-meditated attack. In the video, one of the victims of the shooting – who got shot in the thigh but is stable – is seen speaking to the media.
In the video, he identifies the assailant, a student of Mahatma Gandhi Kashi Vidyapith college in Varanasi, and claims that the incident was a result of an earlier altercation with one of the victims who was killed.
The police has since cordoned off the area and a probe is underway.
(This is a developing story. The copy will be updated as more details come in)
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)