LUCKNOW: While three people have been arrested and a hunt is on for two more in connection with the killing of a teenaged Dalit boy in Amroha district of UP, politics came into play on Tuesday. The murder had taken place late on Saturday night.
Bhim Army chief Chandrashekhar Azad, who had planned to meet the bereaved family, could not reach Hasanpur, the police station area where the murder had taken place. There were reports that Azad and BSP MP from Nagina Girish Chandra would meet the family members of the deceased.
The Dalit boy was shot dead by some youths belonging to an upper caste in Domkheda village under Hasanpur police station area in Amroha late on Saturday night. As per police sources, they came to the house of 17-year-old Vikas Jatav who was sleeping outside his house and shot him dead.
While the victim's father Om Prakash Jatav alleged the killers picked up a fight with his son over entering a village temple, the district police authorities contradicted the claim by saying that the murder was the result of an altercation between the two sides over Rs 5000 owed by the elder brother of the victim. The altercation between the victim and the accused had taken place on May 31.
"On March 31, some youths named Lala, Jasveer, Roshan and Horam Chouhan prevented my son from entering the temple,” said Om Prakash while saying that it was for the first time that such a thing had happened. “We have never been discriminated like this before. I am not able to comprehend why they did this to my son,” said Om Prakash. He claimed that following an altercation, the accused beat up his son and abused him over his caste but he was saved by some locals. The police had been informed of the fight between Jatav and the upper caste youth but no action was taken.
"On Saturday night, four people including Horam Chauhan and Lala Chouhan came to my house, shot my son as he was sleeping, threatened us and ran away," Om Prakash added. The district police authorities, however, contradicted the claim of the victim’s father and denied that a caste angle was involved in the murder. They claimed it to be personal enmity over money.
As per the police authorities, the two sides were at loggerheads over an amount of Rs 5,000 which was allegedly owed by the victim’s elder brother who was a partner of the accused in a contract for a mango orchard.
As per the police official, the dispute took a violent turn on May 31 when the accused asked the victim’s brother to return the money. Following the brawl, the accused fled the village and returned on Saturday night and shot the victim dead in his sleep, said police sources. Consequent to the series of events, sub-inspector Subhash Rana was shunted to the police lines on charges of dereliction of duty. A departmental probe was also ordered against him, said Amroha SP Vipin Tada.
According to police, a case was registered against four persons — Lala Chauhan, Horam Chauhan, Jasveer and Bhushan. The police arrested Horam and Lala two days ago, while the remaining two were on the run.
The police on Tuesday arrested Deepak who had allegedly provided the weapon and motorbike to Horam. Besides murder, the accused were also was booked under charges of violation of the SC/ST Prevention of Atrocities Act. However, the Amroha SP denied having any information about the visit of the Bhim Army chief to the family of the victim. “We have acted in connection with the murder. Three persons were arrested and two more are on the run. Besides, a sub-inspector has been shunted to police lines for negligence. The probe is on,” he added.