'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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Indictment row: Rahul Gandhi demands Adani's arrest, accuses govt of protecting him
New Delhi (PTI): Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday said businessman Gautam Adani should be arrested after his indictment in the US and accused the government of protecting him.
Speaking to reporters outside Parliament, Gandhi, the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, said when hundreds of people are arrested on "tiny" charges in the country, why is Adani not in jail?
The reiteration by Gandhi comes hours after the Adani Group said the billionaire and his nephew Sagar Adani have not been charged with any violations of the US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) in the indictment filed by US authorities in a court in a bribery case.
The duo has been charged with securities fraud that involves levy of monetary penalties.
"You think the Adanis are going to accept the charges. Which world are you living in? Obviously, he is going to deny the charges," Gandhi said when asked about the denial of charges by the Adani Group.
"The point is he has to be arrested. As we have said, hundreds of people are being arrested on tiny charges and the gentleman has been indicted in the United States for thousands of crores. He should be in jail... The government is protecting him," the former Congress chief said.
Gandhi was the first to demand the arrest of Adani after charges of alleged bribery were made out by the US against the businessman.
Earlier, Adani's lawyer Mukul Rohtagi said there are no specific charges against the businessman or his associates and the accusations of bribery are very general and no specifics on who gave the bribe to whom are not specified.
