'My son was shot dead, his killer must go same way,' says head of family gunned down in Amethi
Amethi (UP) (PTI): Ram Gopal, four members of whose family were gunned down by an unknown assailant, on Friday said his son's killer(s) must meet the same fate.
Sunil Kumar, 35, a government school teacher, his 32-year-old wife Poonam, and the couple's two daughters, Drishti and Suni, aged 6 and 1, were shot dead at their rented home in Ahorwa Bhawani area here Thursday evening.
The killer has been suspected to be a man who once was accused by Poonam of harassing her.
The brazen wipeout of the Dalit family drew the attention of authorities.
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath paid his condolences, while the opposition launched a sharp attack against the BJP dispensation over the law and order in the state.
An initial police probe revealed that Poonam had lodged a police complaint against Chandan Verma in Rae Bareli on August 18 under the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989, and for harassment.
"If anything happens to me or my family, Verma should be held responsible for it," she had written in the complaint, Amethi Superintendent of Police Anoop Kumar Singh said Thursday.
It was yet to be determined if the two cases are related, he also said.
"The way my son has gone, they (killers) should go the same way," Ram Gopal, whose son was the sole breadwinner of the family, said on Friday.
"With my son gone, I am left with no one to take care of the house," he said. "I am over 60 years old and I have one more son, who lives separately. If he can get a job, it would be good," he urged the government.
Ram Gopal said he does not know who Chandan Verma is or if he is the one who did the killings.
"I am a Harijan and I don't know what caste he is," he told reporters outside the mortuary here.
He, however, recalled his daughter-in-law once telling him that she had lodged a police complaint against him.
"Had any action been taken, this would not have happened today," Ram Gopal said.
Meanwhile, a three-member team of doctors conducted the post mortem of the bodies in Amethi under videography.
Ram Gopal later took all four bodies to his native village, Sudamapur, in Rae Bareli's Unchahar.
Amethi police chief Anoop Kumar Singh said five police teams have been deployed to work on the case.
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Rahul meets Youth Cong workers arrested for 'shirtless protest' at AI meet, calls them 'babbar sher'
New Delhi (PTI): Former Congress chief Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday met the Indian Youth Congress members who were arrested for a "shirtless" protest during the AI Impact Summit here in February and said he is proud of the courage and patriotism of these "lions".
This was Gandhi's first joint meeting with all the Youth Congress members who were arrested following the protest. The leader of opposition in the Lok Sabha shared photographs of the meeting held at the Congress headquarters here on his Instagram page.
"Today, I met with my fellow 'babbar sher (lion)' members of the Youth Congress who had been arrested for their peaceful protest. Peaceful protest is a constitutional right of every citizen. And it becomes all the more essential -- especially when the country's Prime Minister is compromised," Gandhi said in his post on Instagram.
"The Congress party and I take immense pride in the courage and patriotism of our 'babbar shers'," he added.
A group of Youth Congress workers had staged a dramatic protest inside a hall of the AI summit venue by removing their shirts to reveal T-shirts printed with slogans against the government and the India-US interim trade deal, before being whisked away by security personnel.
Youth Congress chief Uday Bhanu Chib, along with those who participated in the demonstration, was arrested in connection with the "shirtless protest" at the venue of the summit at Bharat Mandapam. Chib and others were later released on bail.
