Ballia (Uttar Pradesh), Oct 16 (TIWN) In an unexpected turn of events, BJP MLA from Ballia, Surendra Singh, has come out to defend Dhirendra Singh, an accused in the firing incident at a Panchayat meeting in which one person was killed.

Jaiprakash was shot dead at a meeting on allotment of ration shops held at village Durjanpur. According to witnesses, a fight erupted between him and Dhirendra Singh, a BJP worker said to be close to party MLA Surendra Singh. Dhirendra Singh, the chief of the BJP's local ex-servicemen's unit, allegedly fired three shots at Jaiprakash, triggering chaos and a near-stampede at the meeting held in a tent.  Dramatic visuals shared by news agency ANI show a large number of people on a field as the shots are fired. People are seen panicking and running frantically in the 5-second video. Dhirendra Singh escaped under the nose of policemen while his brother Devendra Singh has been arrested. 

"I condemn the tragic incident but I also condemn the administration's one-sided investigation. If Dhirendra Singh had not fired in self-defence, dozens from his family would have been killed. He had no other alternative except for marne aur maarne (dying or killing)" said Surendra Singh, the BJP MLA from the area.  It is not known yet whether the man who was killed, Jaiprakash, had a weapon as claimed by the MLA.  Mr Singh confirmed that Dhirendra Singh, his close aide, heads the BJP's ex-servicemen's unit in Ballia. Yesterday, the politician had said that an incident like this could happen anywhere. "This is a casualty that can happen anywhere. In this incident, there was stone-pelting from both sides. The law will take its own course," the BJP legislator said.