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UP NEET aspirant trying to catch cattle smugglers beaten to death
A 20-year-old NEET student was abducted and killed in Gorakhpur, Uttar Pradesh, sparking protests and injuries among police, as officials promise strict action.
LUCKNOW: A 20-year-old student preparing for NEET was abducted and killed in a village in Uttar Pradesh’s Gorakhpur district after clashes broke out between residents and suspected cattle smugglers, police said on Tuesday, adding the incident triggered protests by villagers who pelted stones at police personnel, leaving some senior officers injured.
Chief minister Yogi Adityanath termed the incident “tragic” and directed officials to take strictest action against the culprits, even as Opposition Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav called the incident a “major failure” of the CM.
According to the police, the trouble began late on Monday night, when 10-12 “cattle smugglers” arrived at Mauachapi village in two pickup vans and allegedly tried to break into a furniture shop belonging to one Durgesh Gupta. On hearing the shutters being forced, a relative alerted Durgesh’s son, Deepak, who rushed to the spot on a scooter, raising an alarm.
Nearly 10-15 villagers followed him. Startled, the suspected smugglers opened fire and tried to flee. In the chaos, they dragged Deepak into one of their vehicles and sped away. Meanwhile, villagers caught hold of one smuggler, torched his vehicle and thrashed him severely, police said.
When the police reached the scene and attempted to rescue the injured suspect, locals clashed with them, pelting stones, leaving superintendent of police (North) Jitendra Srivastava and Pipraich SHO grievously injured, officers said.
Later, the police found Deepak’s blood-soaked body around 4 km away, which triggered protests in the area.
Gorakhpur senior superintendent of police (SSP) Raj Karan Nayyar said the police received information about the incident at around 3 am. The smugglers had arrived in two pickup vans, one of which was able to flee the spot while the other got stuck, and Deepak had gone after it.
“One of the people from the stuck pickup van was caught by the villagers, and he was hospitalised. The police immediately reached the spot. The youth (Deepak) received injuries to his head, apparently because of which he unfortunately died. The autopsy report is awaited. A complaint has been received from the family, and further legal actions have been initiated,” Nayyar told reporters.
Some of the accused have been identified, and five police teams are working on the case to apprehend them, the SSP added.
District magistrate Deepak Meena, as well as senior police officers — DIG Shiv S Channappa and SSP Nayyar rushed to the spot and brought the situation under control. Channappa and Nayyar met the aggrieved family and promised swift action. The family of the deceased, who was preparing for admission to a medical course, has demanded ₹1 crore compensation, a government job and strict action against both the smugglers and erring policemen.
Taking cognisance of the “tragic incident”, the chief minister has “directed senior administrative officials to reach the spot, communicate with the affected family, and strictest action against the culprits,” Adityanath’s office said in a post in Hindi on X.
Former CM and SP chief Akhilesh Yadav targeted the state government, alleging that the people were angry because the administration tried to protect the smugglers.
“The BJP government is responsible for the public outrage that has erupted in Gorakhpur against animal smugglers protected by those in power due to administrative-collusive complicity...” Yadav posted on X in Hindi.
(With PTI inputs)
