A barber in Uttar Pradesh’s Badaun entered the house of a man he previously had a dispute with and allegedly hacked his two children to death on Tuesday evening. The incident has triggered tensions in the area.

About two hours after the incident, the accused, identified as Sajid, was shot dead in an encounter with the police after he attacked the cops while trying to flee.

UP Director General of Police (DGP) Prashant Kumar told The Indian Express that Sajid was shot dead when he opened fire on the police team pursuing him.

The incident took place in the Baba Colony under the Mandi Samiti police station. The accused barged into his neighbour’s house and slit the throats of the two brothers, aged 11 and 6, while injuring the third child.

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According to the police, Sajid’s shop is located near the boys’ home. The boys’ father, Vinod Singh, is a contractor, while their mother, Sangeeta, has a beauty parlour.

Sajid went to Singh’s house at around 7.45 pm on Tuesday. At the time, Singh had reportedly gone to the market, while his wife was at her beauty parlour. The boys were at home with their paternal grandmother, police said.

According to police, when Singh’s mother went to make tea, the accused went to the third floor of the house, where the two boys were playing with their brother. He attacked the boys with a sharp-edged weapon, slitting the throats of the two victims, according to an IE report.

The third boy, who sustained injuries, managed to escape and alerted the rest of the family. As the family raised an alarm, Sajid fled from the area.

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At about 10 pm, Sajid was gunned down in Shekupur area, about 7 km from the victims’ house.

Following the boys’ killings, tensions flared in the area. Angry mob vandalised Sajid’s shop and set it ablaze. Two makeshift shops were also set on fire. Additional police personnel were deployed, and the situation was brought under control.

(With inputs from PTI)