A retired Army officer allegedly shot his father and brother dead after an argument with them over property issues.

The incident took place at Dhandhari village in Kaptanganj area of Azamgarh district on Wednesday night. The accused was identified as Manoj Kumar Singh (45) and the deceased as Shivnarayan (70), and Manish Singh (30).

According to reports, Manoj asked his father, Shivnarayan, about their property and the money they received from farming. However, the discussion soon turned into a heated argument. While Shivnarayan and Manoj were having a heated argument, Manish also reached the spot. On seeing him, Manoj suddenly took out his licensed pistol and shot his father dead. When Shivnarayan fell to the ground, Manish tried to nab Manoj but he fired at his brother also.

Hearing the gunshots, his aunt Avadhraji (65) tried to catch Manoj but he hit her with a stick and fled the spot.

A few hours later, Manoj reached the Kaptanganj police station with his licensed pistol and surrendered himself, a senior police officer said.

Circle Officer, Azamgarh, Lalta Prasad, said Manoj had been arrested and further investigation was underway.

A senior police officer of Kaptanganj police station said that during preliminary inquiry, it came to light that Avadhraji had adopted Manish when he was six years old.

"After returning home on retirement, Manoj had been trying to convince his father not to give their property shares to Manish as he would inherit Avadhraji's property. However, Shivnarayan was adamant about giving Manish a share of the family property and this led to the dispute and the killing," the police officer added.

In Unnao, a young man killed his grandfather by slitting his neck with a shovel. According to police, the accused killed his grandfather over a property dispute. The deceased was identified as Anantu, a 70-year-old man, who was lying outside his house on Wednesday evening when the accused, identified as Umesh Yadav (24), attacked him.

On hearing the old man's scream, Umesh Yadav's mother came outside and saw her son killing his grandfather. Umesh fled from the spot after the crime.

Anantu did not have any children. Many years ago his wife passed away. Since then, he used to live at his brother's house. Umesh was angry with his grandfather over some property issues.

The police registered a complaint against the accused. A police team has been formed to nab Yadav. Further investigations are on.

In Etawah, a 55-year-old seer was murdered near Barauli Kala village, police said on Thursday.

Ramji, a resident of Sakrava village in Kannauj district, was living in a hut at a temple, about one kilometre away from Barauli Kala village.

The sadhu was murdered by unknown people on Wednesday night, Saifai police station in-charge Muhammad Tariq said. The killers used sharp-edged weapons to slit his throat, he said, adding that further investigations were on.

In Pratapgarh, a constable was allegedly lynched by three of his associates in Kunda locality.

Additional Superintendent of Police (West) Rahul Mishra said on Thursday that Sanjay Yadav (29), a police constable posted in Chhattisgarh, had come to his house in Maheshganj on leave these days and late on Wednesday night he along with his associates Kuldeep Yadav, Premchand and Pintu. Kunda had gone to town. He said that the three ate food and drank alcohol at a dhaba near a petrol pump. During this, there was a dispute between them about something and the three companions beat Sanjay Yadav with sticks and left him in a drain in an injured condition.

Mishra said that on receiving information, the police reached the spot and took the seriously injured constable out of the drain and rushed him to the local hospital, where the doctors pronounced him dead. He said that on the complaint of the family, the police registered a case of murder against the three associates of Sanjay Yadav and took them into custody.

Further investigations are on.