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4 more arrested in Dalit man's lynching case in UP's Rae Bareli
Police said the accused will face charges under the Gangsters Act and the National Security Act (NSA).
Four more people have been arrested in connection with the lynching of a Dalit man in the Unchahar area of Uttar Pradesh’s Raebareli district after villagers mistook him for a thief. The incident has caused a political row, with the Congress party targeting the BJP-led government in the state and at the Centre.
Police said the accused will face charges under the Gangsters Act and the National Security Act (NSA). They also warned against giving the incident a caste-based interpretation, stating that the accused did not know the victim’s caste.
“Four more persons, including Shiv Prasad Agrahari, who stood as a mute spectator and did not inform the police, a relative of Shivam, the main accused, who sheltered him, and two others – Lalli Pasi and his associate – were arrested on Tuesday, taking the total arrests in the case to nine,” Raebareli SP Yashveer Singh said.
“The victim was unknown to the villagers, and those involved belong to various communities. Police will act against anyone spreading misinformation or disturbing communal harmony,” the officer said.
Notably, the NSA allows authorities to detain individuals to prevent actions considered "prejudicial to the defence of India," with a maximum detention of 12 months, which can be revoked earlier.
The Uttar Pradesh Gangsters and Anti-Social Activities (Prevention) Act, 1986, aims to tackle organised crime by providing special measures to deal with gangsters and anti-social activities.
What is the case?
Hariom Valmiki (40) was reportedly lynched by villagers who mistook him for a thief during a night vigil around 1 am on October 2, amid rumours that a gang was using drones to take away items from homes.
Five people, Vaibhav Singh, Vijay Kumar, Sahdev Pasi, Vijay Maurya, and Suresh Kumar Maurya, were arrested immediately after the incident.
In a joint statement, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and former party chief Rahul Gandhi said that mob lynching, bulldozer injustice, and mobocracy have become a “horrifying hallmark of our times".
With inputs from agencies
