A key accused in the lynching of a 38-year-old mentally unstable Dalit man, suspected of being a drone thief in a Rae Bareli village, was arrested following an encounter near Ganga Ghat on Friday, police said.
According to Rae Bareli additional superintendent of police (ASP) Sanjeev Sinha, the accused, Deepak Agrahari, who carried a reward of ₹25,000, was arrested after being injured in retaliatory firing. He had been absconding since his name surfaced in connection with the lynching incident that took place in Rae Bareli’s Unchahar village on the intervening night of October 2 and 3.
Sinha said that 15 people involved in the incident had been identified, and 12 of them arrested so far. Two accused -- Shivam Agrahari and Hemant Kumar Maurya -- were arrested on Thursday, while four were nabbed on Monday (October 6) and five on October 4.
The ASP added that police had initiated proceedings under the National Security Act (NSA) against those involved in the case. “We will soon send a report to the district magistrate for invoking the NSA against the arrested accused, but the final decision will be taken by a committee headed by the district magistrate,” he said.
Earlier, Unchahar police station in-charge Sanjay Kumar was removed from his post for failing to avert the incident despite an alert being issued regarding drone theft rumours across rural Uttar Pradesh. Three other policemen were also suspended.
{{/usCountry}}Earlier, Unchahar police station in-charge Sanjay Kumar was removed from his post for failing to avert the incident despite an alert being issued regarding drone theft rumours across rural Uttar Pradesh. Three other policemen were also suspended.
{{/usCountry}}According to officials, the victim, Hariom, a resident of Tarwawati ka Purwa in Fatehpur district, was travelling on foot to his in-laws’ house when he was attacked and killed by a mob in Rae Bareli’s Unchahar police station area.
Hariom’s wife, who works as a contractual employee in a bank, was living with her parents due to strained relations between the couple.
Police have registered a case against six individuals under Section 105 (culpable homicide) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and under provisions of the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.