In a sensational incident, a 30-year-old Dalit activist was shot dead allegedly on the instructions of a local history-sheeter who believed that the activist was a threat to his illegal activities in Thakurdwara area of Moradabad district.
SSP (Moradabad) Hemraj Meena, said: “Vishal Valmiki was shot by one Bilal on the instructions of Atul Sharma Pandit, a history-sheeter, and his aide Golu. An FIR has been registered on the complaint of the victim’s family. Five teams have been tasked with arresting the accused.”
Atul Sharma, Bilal and Golu have been booked under IPC sections 302 (murder) and 120b (criminal conspiracy) along with the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989.
Vishal’s father Mukesh Valmiki said: “My son had recently joined a right-wing outfit and his popularity was increasing among the youngsters of all communities. Sharma could not accept the fact that a Dalit was becoming popular.” Sanitation workers in the area decided to go on a strike from Tuesday itself in protest against the incident.
Circle Officer of Thakurdwara Arpit Kapoor, who is investigating the case, said: “The situation here is tense. All the accused named in the case are history-sheeters and we are trying to arrest them at the earliest.”
Meanwhile, a man was beaten to death while his brother sustained injuries at Gorai village in Aligarh allegedly over a dispute between him and the village pradhan following allegations of poor-quality construction work, the police said.
A case was registered against the attackers for murder and rioting.
The deceased, Devjit Singh (32), and his brother were assaulted by a group of eight men, allegedly including the village pradhan and his son wielding sticks and sharp-edged weapons, police said.
The victim’s family alleged that the issue stemmed from RTI applications filed by the slain activist.
According to DSP (Iglas tehsil, Aligarh) Raghavendra Singh, the incident happened in a field on Saturday evening. The victim’s brother is currently stable. He had sustained injuries in the arm.
The police said that there was a conflict between the two parties over some issues, including construction of a pond. The DSP said the case was being investigated. Regarding allegations that the family had filed complaints earlier regarding threats, the DSP said no such complaint had been found so far.
