Serviceman opens fire in Andhra over spurned love

Amaravati, Feb 22 (IANS) A woman was injured when a serviceman opened fire after she rejected his marriage proposal for her daughter in Andhra Pradesh's Guntur district on Saturday.According to police, the incident occurred in Nadimpalli village. Balaji, working as a soldier, opened fire from a country-made revolver as soon as the girl's mother opened the door. The alert woman moved quickly but the bullet pierced through her right ear.Hearing her screams, locals rushed to the scene and tried to catch Balaji. He threw the bag and the revolver and escaped.Injured Rama Devi was shifted to a hospital. Police detained an auto rickshaw driver who allegedly helped the attacker.Police said they registered a case and launched a hunt for Balaji.According to police, the accused, hailing from another village in the same district, was in love with the girl and wanted to marry her. However, the girl had rejected the proposal. As he continued harassing her, the family lodged a complaint with the police. Enraged over this, Balaji came to her house on Saturday morning and opened fire.
--IANS ms/skp/