Gonda: A local Samajwadi Party leader has been killed in Uttar Pradesh's Gonda district and a BJP councillor, along with his three sons and one other individual, have been booked in connection with the incident, police said. The victim identified as Om Prakash Singh was attacked with sharp-edged weapons at his house on Friday night.
A post-mortem was conducted, and Singh's body was handed over to his family, who staged a protest on Saturday morning, refusing to perform the last rites. The family placed Singh's body on the road and said that last rites would be performed only after the accused were arrested, police said.
Om Prakash Singh was killed with a sharp-edge weapon
According to the police, Singh (45) was killed on Friday night after some people broke into his house in Raja Tola, Parsapur town, and attacked him with a sharp-edged weapon.
Following the protest, senior Samajwadi Party leader Yogesh Pratap Singh, former MLA Baijnath Dubey, and other party leaders reached his house and demanded fair and immediate action.
Meanwhile, Additional Superintendent of Police (West) Radheshyam Rai and Colonelganj Police Circle Officer Chandrapal Sharma rushed to the spot and assured the protesters of swift action, police said. Due to the large crowd gathered outside Singh's house, additional forces were called in, they added.
FIR against BJP councillor and others
Based on a complaint from Singh's wife Neelam, an FIR has been filed against five individuals, including Udaybhan Singh alias Lallan Singh, a BJP councillor of Paraspur Nagar Panchayat, and his three sons, according to Paraspur police station in-charge Dinesh Singh.
A case has been registered, and a team has been assembled to arrest the accused.
Om Prakash Singh had previously contested the Nagar Panchayat elections for the councillor position on the SP ticket but lost to BJP candidate Udaybhan Singh, the station in-charge noted.
In her complaint, Neelam Singh stated that Udaybhan and his family had assaulted them twice before, with her husband and son being beaten up. Despite filing a complaint at the local police station, no action was taken due to political pressure.
Neelam claimed this inaction emboldened the accused, leading them to enter their house on Friday and kill her husband. She added that if the police had acted on their previous complaints, her husband would still be alive.
(With PTI inputs)
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