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A 45-year-old utensils trader in Gonda was killed over his objectionable and divisive content on social media, the assailants arrested in the case told the police, officials privy to the investigation said on Friday. The incident has caused a flutter with the Uttar Pradesh fisheries and Nishad party chief Sanjay Nishad, an ally of the BJP, joining the ranks of protesters and pulling up the local authorities.
The murder has taken a caste turn too as the victim, Vinod Kumar Sahni, belonged to the Nishad community, classified among the Other Backward Classes (OBCs), while police said the three arrested accused, including prime accused Shubham Singh, Subhash and Antim, belong to an upper-caste community.
The assailants told the police that their intention was only to assault the trader and not to kill him, according to people privy to the case.
According to Gonda SP Abhishek Jha, the accused claimed during questioning that Sahni had been posting objectionable and divisive content on social media targeting a particular community. Police are verifying the claim. Police, however, have not established that the attack was caste-motivated.
Police have suspended Paraspur station house officer Kamal Shankar Chaturvedi, outpost in-charge Ankit Singh and constable Abhimanyu Bharti for alleged negligence. Departmental action has been recommended against them.
Sahni, a resident of Rexadia village in Paraspur, was attacked by eight to 10 men on Wednesday night while returning home after closing his shop. He succumbed to his injuries during treatment at King George’s Medical University (KGMU) in Lucknow on Thursday.
On Friday, more than 1,000 people gathered and the family kept Sahni’s body on the road, refusing to proceed with the cremation until Nishad Party chief Sanjay Nishad reached the spot. Later, they agreed to the cremation. After an assurance from the administration, Sahani’s last rites were performed at Kamiyar Ghat on Friday evening, with his son lighting the funeral pyre, according to a PTI report.
Nishad had earlier confronted Gonda SP Abhishek Jha over the heavy police deployment outside the circuit house. When the police officer arrived with a bouquet to receive him, Nishad questioned the need for the deployment and accused the police of damaging the government’s image.
“Why have you deployed so much force? Where force is actually required, it has not been deployed,” he said.
Nishad subsequently led supporters on a nearly one-kilometre march from the circuit house to the collectorate, where he sat on a dharna. District magistrate Priyanka Niranjan met him there and heard his demands.
He sought the arrest of all the killers, encounter action if required, invocation of the National Security Act (NSA) against the accused, compensation for the family and a government job for one member.
Regarding the protests, Nishad said they were for the community and nowhere reflected differences with the BJP.
He also said whatever he was doing was in the chief minister’s knowledge.
“I myself and the state government are following the instructions of chief minister Yogi Adityanath,” he told HT and accused the Opposition of being corrupt.
Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav spoke to Sahni’s son Raja by phone and assured him of support. SP leader Kajal Nishad also reached Gonda and met the family.
In a press statement, Yadav said, “BJP rule has become synonymous with atrocities, injustice and arrogance. The PDA is their target.”
Bihar-based Vikassheel Insaan Party chief Mukesh Sahani, who is seeking to consolidate support among Nishads and other extremely backward communities, has also demanded justice.
