A mob of over 150 people doused the District Supply Officer of Badaun district with kerosene and tried to set him ablaze after he raided a fair price shop in Dehgawa village in Uttar Pradesh on Thursday. Neeraj Kumar Singh escaped and reportedly took refuge in the nearby Ghareeb Nagar police station.
Three persons, including the FP shop owner, Girish Chandra, have been arrested. Hunt is on for the other culprits.
The mob was reportedly backed by the kerosene mafia and a local Samajwadi Party leader allegedly incited it.
An FIR has been lodged against 154 persons, 150 of them unidentified.
The shop was functioning from Girish Chandra’s house and the raid was conducted following a tip-off that adulterated kerosene was being sold. Complaints of large scale hoarding were also received at the DSO’s office.
Police said that when the DSO, accompanied by his subordinates, raided the house, Girish Chandra was caught red-handed.
The DSO sealed the shop but he was surrounded by the mob, which assaulted him and then doused him with kerosene.
The mob reportedly formed a human chain around the DSO and his team members, who were in a government vehicle, but they managed to drive away.
When the police reached the spot following a written complaint by the official, the shop owner had escaped. He surrendered before the police on Friday.
