A Dalit Samajwadi Party (SP) leader and his son were shot dead at Fatehpur Shamsoi village in Bahjoi area in Uttar Pradesh’s Sambhal district after an argument between two sides over road construction, police said on Tuesday.
The murder was caught on video and it went viral.
The deceased were identified as Chotelal Diwakar and his son Sunil. Mr. Diwakar was a former SP candidate from the Chandausi Assembly segment in the polls but did not contest as the seat went to the Congress as a part of a seat-sharing arrangment in 2017.
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Accused Jitendra and Sarvendra have been arrested and the weapons used recovered, said SP Sambhal Yamuna Prasad. An FIR had been lodged.
“An MGNREGA road was being constructed in Sansoi village over which the former pradhan pati [husband of the pradhan] and a person called Savinder had a dispute. Firing ensued and two persons were shot. They died on the spot,” he said.
Additional SP Sambhal Alok Kumar Jayswal said the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act had been invoked in the case. He, however, asserted that caste was not a reason for the killing and it was due to a dispute over laying a road.
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In the video, some people are seen engaged in a heated argument near a field. Two persons carry rifles and threaten the other side. When it seems tempers had calmed, the two make a dash towards the victims who were behind them and shoot them from close range.
The Samajwadi Party condemned the incident. The accused were goons who enjoyed the support of the ruling BJP, it alleged.