UP protesters demand death penalty, house demolitions after trader killed over social media posts
Days after a trader was killed in Gonda following a dispute over social media posts, protesters on Friday demanded the death penalty for the accused, demolition of their houses, Rs 5 crore compensation for the victim's family and a government job for one family member.
The family of 45-year-old utensils trader Vinod Kumar Sahani submitted a nine-point memorandum to District Magistrate Priyanka Niranjan, seeking fulfilment of their demands, including a police encounter of the accused and a house under the Chief Minister's housing scheme.
Uttar Pradesh minister and Nishad Party president Sanjay Nishad led a protest at the district headquarters, while Sahani's family and villagers held a separate demonstration in Reksadiya village with his body. They also demanded action against police personnel accused of negligence in handling the case.
Sahani was allegedly intercepted and attacked by a group of men on Wednesday evening following a dispute over social media posts. Police said he was seriously injured and died while undergoing treatment at a hospital in Lucknow on Thursday.
On Friday morning, villagers gathered in Reksadiya under Paraspur police station and later tried to move towards the Chachri-Paraspur road with Sahani's body. Police stopped them, following which the protesters took the body to Shahpur market and placed it on the road.
The protests came a day after three police personnel, including the Paraspur SHO, were suspended for alleged negligence and dereliction of duty. The suspended personnel are SHO Sub-Inspector Kamala Shankar Chaturvedi, Shahpur outpost in-charge Sub-Inspector Ankit Singh and constable Abhimanyu Bharti. A departmental inquiry has also been ordered.
Security was tightened across Gonda, with personnel from Paraspur, Tarabganj, Nawabganj and Colonelganj police stations deployed under ASP (West) Radheshyam Rai. Barricades were also put up on roads leading to Colonelganj village, while security was increased at the collectorate, the district magistrate's residence, the SP's office and the circuit house.
Nishad later met District Magistrate Priyanka Niranjan and Superintendent of Police Abhishek before joining protesters outside the collectorate. The protesters raised slogans against the police administration and demanded stringent action against Sahani's killers.
Niranjan assured the family that action would be taken under Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath's zero-tolerance policy if any injustice had been committed and said no guilty person would be spared.
Police have arrested three accused — Shubham Singh alias Golu, Subhash Singh and Akash Singh.
The family's memorandum also sought residential or agricultural land, security cover, measures to prevent similar incidents and action against those allegedly involved in providing weapons, money or ideological support to the accused.
Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav spoke to Sahani's son Raja Sahani over the phone and offered his condolences. Former minister Yogesh Pratap Singh, SP leader Kajal Nishad, Congress leader Triloki Nath Tiwari and SP state secretary Digvijay Singh also visited or joined the protests.
