Lucknow: A former Samajwadi Party (SP) member and seven others, including a woman, were accused of repeatedly firing a gun during Diwali celebrations in Gonda, allegedly to mark the acquittal of his family members in an old case. A video of the incident, uploaded on Facebook by the former SP functionary, went viral on social media before the post was reportedly deleted.The incident took place in the Nawabganj police station area, about 40 km from the Gonda district headquarters. The video, which surfaced on Monday evening, shows eight people taking turns to fire from the same weapon. Six young men are seen firing first, followed by a middle-aged man and a woman, believed to be about 19 years old.According to reports, the celebratory firing was linked to the acquittal of Abhishek Tiwari’s family members around 15 days ago. Tiwari (28) is a resident of Lauwwa Veerpur village and has been associated with student politics.He joined the Samajwadi Party in 2024 and was appointed district general secretary of the party’s Lohia Vahini. He was later removed from the post and expelled from the party within months, following allegations of anti-party activities and objectionable remarks against SP chief Akhilesh Yadav.In the now-deleted Facebook post, Tiwari wrote that justice had prevailed after a 25-year wait. He described the celebration as the first Diwali after his relatives were “honourably acquitted,” calling it a symbol of justice, patience and family unity.After the video circulated widely, Tiwari claimed the weapon was a “crow gun” used to scare away monkeys and not a conventional firearm, saying monkeys were a nuisance in the area.Gonda superintendent of police Abhishek Jha said the matter was being investigated and strict legal action would be taken against those found responsible based on the inquiry findings.
