Police retaliated with gunfire at the villagers in Uttar Pradesh's Chirchita village.
A group of people allegedly attacked a police team which had gone to a village here on Sunday to arrest a history-sheeter in a bid to help him flee, officials said.
Police retaliated with gunfire at the villagers and managed to safely take the history-sheeter to the police station, they said.
While a police officer said the villagers opened fire on the police team, another officer denied that any cross-firing took place even though the latter confirmed that a villager was injured in the incident.
Fakruddin, a resident of Chirchita village, has 10 cases registered against him in police stations of Bulandshahr, Kaushambi and Prayagraj districts, Additional Superintendent of Police Rohit Mishra said.
A police team of Salempur police station had gone to Nangla Mevati village under Shikarpur police station area to arrest history-sheeter Fakruddin, who was reported to be hiding in the village, ASP Mishra said. He has a reward of Rs 20,000 on his head, he added.
When the police team took Fakruddin into its custody, villagers surrounded the police team and opened fire, the ASP said, adding that police returned fire in self-defence after pulling the accused into their vehicle.
When contacted, Shikarpur Circle Officer Vikas Pratap Singh Chauhan, however, told PTI that "no cross-firing has taken place".
"One villager was injured in the firing. But it is not known how he got injured," he said. The CO added that the injured person is undergoing treatment in Bulandshahr.
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