Shopkeeper, servant gunned down in Lucknow

In a brazen attack, motorcycle-riding assailants Thursday shot dead a shopkeeper and his servant in the Uttar Pradesh capital, police said.

The murders took place in Lajpat Nagar in Chowk area.

Two unidentified assailants stopped their motorbike at the crockery shop owned by Amit Dulani, barged inside and pumped bullets into the shopkeeper and his servant Dashrath, Superintendent of Police (West) Ajay Kumar Mishra told IANS.

Dulani, his mother Usha and servants Anand and Dashrath were present in the shop at the time of the attack.

The assailants first dashed into Dulani's cabin and tried to snatch his gold chain. When he resisted, they shot him.

As they were fleeing the crime scene, his mother tried to stop them and the assailants hit her with a pistol butt. They then shot the servant and fled.

The bodies were sent for post-mortem examination and a case filed against the unidentified attackers.

Local businessmen and residents downed their shutters in protest and staged sit-ins. Police and district authorities pacified the angry family and assured them that the assailants would be arrested soon.