The Tribune, January 7, 2004

Two sparring families leave a trail of death
Our Correspondent

Sonepat, January 6
The Butana shootout incident of last Saturday, in which two youths of a family were murdered, has been brought to the notice of the chief minister, Mr Om Parkash Chautala, who has directed the police to nab the suspects at the earliest. The killings have also prompted the prominent citizens of the neighbouring villages to come together and hammer a compromise between the two sparring families of Butana. While one family, of Prithvi Singh and Chhotu Ram, has lost four members, the other family, of Hukam Singh, has fled from the village; the latter’s house in the village is locked and their agriculture land is lying uncultivated.

Hukam Singh and his eldest son, Prakash, are in jail in a murder case while the other son Jagbir is serving in the air force and living in an air force station along with his wife and children. Two other sons — Sanjay and Krishan – are absconding after allegedly murdering the four youths of the rival family.

Sanjay’s family has also left the village and is reportedly residing elsewhere. Only an aged person, who is an uncle of Hukam Singh, is still staying in the village, but he too had gone underground since the Saturday shootout. The terrorised family members of Prithvi Singh and Chhotu Ram met the chief minister at Canal rest house in Gohana on Monday and sought protection for their family members and immediate arrest of the suspects. The CM reportedly took a serious note of the shootout and directed the police authorities to nab the criminals at the earliest.

Now, five police parties have been constituted to arrest the alleged accused; already, the parties have raided more than a dozen suspected hideouts in Delhi and Uttar Pradesh, but without any success. According to villagers of Butana, some prominent citizens of Gangana, Nunan Khera and other neighbouring villages plan to hammer a compromise between the two rival families. It is feared that if the rivalry is not stamped out, the two families would be ruined.