Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has ordered an inquiry into the brutal murder of a Muslim man in Kushinagar for celebrating the victory of Bharatiya Janata Party in the Assembly polls.
Earlier, a Muslim woman was thrown out of her house in Bareilly and her in-laws threatened to divorce her as she voted for the BJP against their wishes.
Expressing grief over the incident here on Monday after the victim succumbed to his injuries on Sunday, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath ordered an impartial probe into the incident and stern legal proceedings against those involved in the killing.
He also announced an ex gratia of Rs 2 lakh to the family of the victim.
Two persons have been arrested in this connection, the Kushinagar police claimed on Monday.
Reports said that the victim, Babar Ali, who was thrashed on March 20 last in Kathargarhi, died during treatment in Lucknow and when his body reached the village on Sunday, his family members refused to perform the last rites and demanded the arrest of the killers.
However, local MLA PN Pathak and other officials reached there, and finally the family agreed to bury Ali’s body.
Police said Ali was targeted allegedly by his neighbours for apparently participating in the BJP’s campaigning and celebrating its victory in the assembly polls.
On a complaint filed by the victim’s wife, Fatima Khatoon, police registered a case against Azimullah, Arif, Salma and Tahid on March 21 and arrested Arif and Tahid.
As per reports, Ali campaigned for Pathak, a BJP leader, during the assembly election and on the day of victory, he not only burst crackers but also distributed sweets. His neighbours became very angry, threatened him with dire consequences and on March 20, they surrounded him in his house and started beating him up with sticks, police said.
When he climbed to the roof of the house, to save himself, they threw him down from there, the police said.
Ali’s brother Chande Alam and Fatima told reporters that they went to the police and other officials several times to get protection from their neighbours but no one cared.
Pathak said that the culprits would not be spared and stern action would be taken against them.