Defeated candidate chops off rival’s hand in Uttar Pradesh

LUCKNOW - A candidate defeated in the recently-concluded panchayat polls in Uttar Pradesh chopped off a hand of his rival, who too had lost the election, police said Sunday.

Assailants not only cut off the right hand of 50-year-old Dev Narayan Pandey but also severed one hand of his driver Laddan, 21, when he intervened to save his employer. Pandey’s daughter Sadhana, 18, was shot but survived.

Pandey, Laddan and Sadhana were rushed to a hospital and were said to be in a serious condition. The attack took place Saturday in Sasna village of Bahraich district, about 130 km from here.

Interestingly, both the accused Dinesh Tiwari alias Dinesh Maharaj and Pandey, who was attcked, had lost the election. Holding Pandey responsible for his defeat, Tiwari claimed that he would have won the elections if Pandey had withdrawn from the fray.

“Subsequent to the declaration of the panchayat polls in which both Tiwari and I lost, I returned home and was resting when the latter suddenly trooped in with nearly two dozen of his cohorts and started assaulting me and my other family members,” Pandey told reporters after gaining conciousness.

“We were caught unawares and they overpowered me before chopping off my right hand…when my driver rushed in to my help, they tied him too and cut off his right hand too,” he added.

A criminal case was registered against Tiwari and his henchmen, who are on the run since the incident, police said.