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Kanpur Dehat murders: 8 cops, lekhpal suspended
Prelim report suggests timely official intervention in land dispute case between two families could’ve prevented attack
Eight police personnel and a lekhpal were suspended following preliminary findings, which suggested that sheer official negligence in a land dispute case resulted in the brutal murder of two brothers—aged 72 and 66—in Shahjahanpur Binaya village in Kanpur Dehat Friday. Action was also recommended against a revenue inspector, but the local tehsildar, who clearly defied a direct order from his superior officer, has been apparently spared.
On Thursday late night, the two brothers were beaten to death and their family members were injured after arguments over a land and parking dispute, police had said.
Family members refused to cremate the dead unless their demands were met. Even as senior police officers present in the village tried to pacify the relatives, a heavy police contingent was deployed in the village.
Kanpur Dehat superintendent of police BBTGS Murthy stated that eight out of the 11 accused had been arrested and eight policemen—Gajner station house officer Sanjesh Kumar; Pama police post in-charge Kaushal Kishore; sub-inspector (112) Bishun Lal and five constables Kamal Sonkar, Amar Singh, Ravindra Singh, Naresh Prajapati and Brijendra Pal— suspended. “An in-house inquiry has also been ordered against these policemen,” he added.
“The SHO and other cops did not act on the complaint of the prime accused, Mohan Shukla, given to them a week before the incident. Had they acted on the complaint and bound down the two parties, the incident could’ve been prevented,” said the officials. An official team went to the village upon receiving information about an argument between the two families on Thursday night but did not bring the two parties to the police station. Soon after its departure, Mohan Shukla and others launched an attack, resulting in the tragic deaths of the two elderly men.
District Magistrate Alok Singh said lekhpal Sachin Gautam and a revenue inspector, despite having knowledge of the dispute, did not take appropriate action. Gautam was suspended, and action was recommended against the revenue inspector. However, it raises eyebrows as tehsildar Ranvijay Singh, who did not comply with instructions from the district magistrate to visit the village and settle the dispute on September 30 (as per a complaint marked by the DM), has been spared. A copy of the letter is with HT.
On the other hand, the remains of Satya Narayan Sharma, 72, and his brother Ramveer, 66, reached the village on Saturday evening. However, Ramveer’s son Vikas told officials that the family would not cremate the dead until their demands were accepted.
According to a note addressed to the chief minister by Vikas, the family wants Rs. one crore in compensation, a lease of land anywhere in the village, and government jobs for the deceased’s kith and kin.
The root cause of this incident is a plot of land in Ninanaya village owned by Satya Narayan Sharma (one of the brothers who were killed). The district administration approved the construction of a house under the PM housing scheme on this land. However, the ownership of the land was disputed by Mohan Shukla and his brother Jitendra Shukla. Past complaints made by them assert that the land was granted to the Sharma family, but the ownership remained with their family.
The situation escalated when Sharma’s brother, Ramveer, brought building materials to start construction on the land. On the day of the incident, Satya Narayan, Ramveer and their other family members were attacked after they opposed the parking of a three-wheeler on the land. While the brothers died, other five members of the family, including two children, were still undergoing treatment.
