VARANASI, Jan 26 : One person was killed while two got critically injured when a former village head, Shivshankar alias Bhurey Singh, and his henchmen opened indiscriminate fire on rival Bhim Singh and his supporters at a panchayat in Dakshin ka Pura locality of Mehnajpur area in Azamgarh district on Tuesday.

Inspector Mehnajpur Ram Uzagir has also been suspended in view of the incident.

The incident took place when two factions of the present and former village heads Pradeep alias Bheem Singh and Shiv Shankar Singh alias Ghoore, respectively, clashed and opened fire during a meeting called by the block development officer (BDO) for the allotment of houses.

One Himanshu Singh, 32, died in the incident while two others Bheem Singh and Munna Singh sustained bullet injuries. They were rushed to a hospital.

Superintendent of Police (SP) Anurag Arya said four teams have been constituted to arrest all those involved in the incident.

So far five persons have been detained in connection with the firing.