Dalit youth dies in explosion under cot, probe still to figure out who, how & why
The father of the youth, Mevalal Rawat, who is a labourer, in his complaint has said that two upper caste men killed his son over “enmity with the family”.
By: Express News Service | Lucknow |
July 2, 2022 5:12:24 am
A week after a Dalit youth was killed in Lucknow district’s Maal area allegedly following an explosion, police are still not clear how the explosion took place and who were behind the incident.
The explosion took place under his cot while he was sleeping on the night of June 18. The 18-year-old died on June 22 during treatment at Lucknow’s KGMU Trauma Centre.
No arrests have been made in the case so far.
The father of the youth, Mevalal Rawat, who is a labourer, in his complaint has said that two upper caste men killed his son over “enmity with the family”.
Superintendent of Police (Lucknow Rural) Hirdesh Kumar said, “An 18-year-old named Shivam Rawat was sleeping outside his house in the village when some explosive substance went off under his cot. He was injured. Our forensic team found a sutli (string) bomb. He was injured and died later during treatment.”
“The father of the teenager has written in his complaint that he believes that two people from the same village have killed him. No one saw them doing it. It is just their belief that the two – Deepu Singh and Tej Bahadaur — killed him over enmity,” the SP added.
The case has been lodged under Section 302 (murder) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and relevant sections of the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act and Explosives Act. The victim used to work as a labourer in Haridwar.
Additional Superintendent of Police (SP) Hirdesh Katheria said they have asked the two suspects to come to the police station for questioning. “We have also called two others for questioning and are probing the case on a priority basis now. We have four suspects as per the probe,” he said.
“As per the post-mortem report, the cause of death was infection caused by injuries suffered in the explosion. There were some shrapnel in the bomb which caused the infection,” he added.
Asked why police delayed the probe for so long and why the accused have not been questioned even a week after the death, the Additional Superintendent of Police said, “We are questioning them. The probe was ongoing.”
Asked about the explosive used, the ASP said, “We are looking into it.”
Another senior police officer said, “We have found some evidence against those named in the call detail records.”
