The father of the “mentally unstable” Dalit man accused of being a “drone thief” and lynched has alleged that policemen were present during the Wednesday night atrocity in Rae Bareli district but did nothing.
Rae Bareli additional superintendent of police (ASP) Sanjeev Sinha neither denied nor confirmed the allegation directly, but told The Telegraph that a sub-inspector and two constables had been suspended.
He said five accused had been arrested on Friday and the initial charge of culpable homicide against them had been upgraded to murder.
Ganga Deen, father of the slain Down syndrome patient Hari Om, 38, said Congress leader and RaeBareli MP Rahul Gandhi had spoken to him over the phone on Monday andpromised support. Rahul is on a four-nation tour of South America.
Rajendra Pal Gautam, head of the Congress’s Scheduled Caste department, was quoted by PTI as saying that 75 per cent of all atrocities on Dalits took place in five BJP-ruled states, led by Uttar Pradesh.
Citing a National Crime Records Bureau report, he said 57,789 crimes against Dalits had been recorded across the country in 2023, with Uttar Pradesh accounting for 15,130 or 26.2 per cent.
Om, a resident of Taravati in Fatehpur district, had just arrived at his wife’s village of Ishwardaspur in Rae Bareli to meet her when he was attacked by drunken men on a road.
He told the mob that he knew Rahul, the local MP, in a desperate attempt to avoid the thrashing.
But the assailants allegedly said the entire area belonged to “Baba” — a presumed allusion to chief minister Yogi Adityanath — and that taking Rahul’s name would not save him. After beating him with sticks and belts, they threw him on a railway track.
ASP Sinha said the victim’s caste had “nothing to do with the crime” and that the accused, “who belong to different castes, didn’t know they were beating a Dalit”. He said the accused “don’t have any criminal past”.
Ganga Deen suggested the accused were influential enough to intimidate people and keep the local police at bay.
“We went to the spot on October 2 after learning that my son’s body was lying there near the railway tracks,” he told reporters at his home.
“Some people who seemed agitated about the murder were speaking in hushed tones because they feared the killers. They told me that everything happened in the presence of the police.”
Ganga Deen added: “Rahul Gandhi has promised me all support to fight the case and send the killers to the gallows.”
It isn’t clear why the attackers suspected Om to be a drone thief.
While police stations in the districts routinely share news of serious crimes with the media every day, Om’s lynching is said to have been suppressed.
There was no information even after Friday’s arrests, the brutality becoming public only when a video began circulating on Saturday.
The video appears to show Om repeatedly muttering “I know Rahul Gandhi” as he lies blood-soaked on the ground.
“Don’t take Rahul Gandhi’s name; we all belong to Baba,” someone from the mob purportedly says.
About 10 people are seen surrounding the victim but not all are beating him. No one in police uniform can be seen.
ASP Sinha said the police were verifying the authenticity of the video.
Drone rumours
Buying drones, whose prices can range from ₹6,000 to ₹6 lakh, has become a trend among many in Uttar Pradesh. The buyers range from farmers keen on keeping an eye on their fields to young men looking to use them for sport or flaunt them as a status symbol.
However, their widespread use has led to allegations that they are being stolen and used to spy on people — particularly women — causing deep anger.
The police believe that some of the owners may be spreading false stories about drone thefts so that no blame attaches to them for any misuse.
“Rumours of drone theft had spread in western Uttar Pradesh and travelled gradually to Rae Bareli (in eastern Uttar Pradesh). We came to know that drones were flying at several places in the district,” ASP Sinha said.
“We collected a list of 150 online drone purchasers and identified 90 buyers. Most of the drones were like toys without cameras,” he added, indicating these could not be used for snooping.”
He said some of the buyers had themselves spread rumours of theft. “We arrested them.”
Cong demands
State Congress president Ajay Rai, who met the victim’s family at their village on Monday, said there was “jungle raj” under Adityanath’s rule.
Gautam, the SC cell chief, demanded a ₹1-crore compensation for the victim’s family and a government job for one of its members. He also demanded a probe by a special investigation team.
The Congress has asked Adityanath to resign, PTI reported.