Bareilly: A man travelling in a bus from Anand Vihar in Delhi to Badaun died after he was hit by by a pellet from a licenced single barrel shotgun of a co-passenger that accidentally went off after it fell on the floor of the bus.According to the police complaint given by the driver and conductor of the bus, Gajendra Pal boarded the bus from Lal Kuan for Badaun and was carrying a shotgun. “When we enquired about the gun, Pal told me that it not loaded and he sat down. When the bus reached Ujhani area of Badaun at 4.15 am on Wednesday, Pal stood near the gate. Though I told him that it will take time to reach Badaun’s Nausera area, he claimed that he was tired of sitting. Suddenly, the gun slipped from his shoulder and fell on floor. It went off and a pellet hit Rajiv Singh, a passenger, in the neck. I told my driver to take us to hospital and informed police through dial 100. Pal tried to escape but all the other passengers nabbed him. When we took Rajiv to hospital, doctors declared him brought dead,’’ said Pankaj Kumar Sharma, the bus conductor, in his complaint.However, the family of Rajiv (28) claimed in their complaint that he was carrying Rs 50,000 with him in the bus and Pal later came and sat next to him. “Pal asked my son to give the money to him and when he refused to do so, it led to an argument. Pal took out his gun and shot him dead,’’ said Om Prakash Chauhan, Singh’s father.Police have refuted the allegations of Rajiv’s family. Devesh Singh, inspector, Civil Lines police station said, “We spoke to nearly 50 passengers in the bus and they all said that no argument for money took place and the two passengers were not sitting next to each other. They all said that Rajiv died after he was hit by the shot when the gun fell. We have arrested Pal under the charge of murder.”Sooraj Singh, cousin of the deceased said, “Rajiv works as a delivery man for a restaurant in Noida. He was supposed to change the bus from Badaun to travel to his native Piknapur village in Farrukhabad district. He was going to his native village to attend the wedding of his nephew.’’ Rajiv is survived by his wife and two children aged nine months and three years.

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