UP minister leads protest against own government over Gonda trader's killing

An Uttar Pradesh minister on Friday, 11 September, led a protest against his own government in Gonda over the killing of a 45-year-old trader, putting the Yogi Adityanath government under political pressure over the handling of the case.

Sanjay Nishad, who is also president of the Nishad Party, travelled from Lucknow to Gonda and led a demonstration at the district headquarters, joining protesters demanding stringent action against those accused of killing trader Vinod Kumar Sahani.

The unusual protest by a serving minister came two days after Sahani was allegedly attacked following a dispute over social media posts and a day after three police personnel were suspended for alleged negligence and dereliction of duty in the case.

Sahani, a utensils trader from Reksadiya village, was allegedly intercepted and attacked by a group of men on Wednesday evening following a dispute over social media posts. Police said he was seriously injured and died while undergoing treatment at a Lucknow hospital on Thursday, 10 September.

On Friday morning, a large number of people gathered in Reksadiya village under Paraspur police station. The villagers initially staged a protest there and later moved towards the Chachri-Paraspur road with Sahani's body, but were stopped by police. They then took the body to Shahpur market and placed it on the road.

The victim's family submitted a nine-point memorandum to district magistrate Priyanka Niranjan, demanding the death penalty for the accused, demolition of their houses, Rs 5 crore compensation, a government job for one family member and security for the bereaved family. The family also sought a police encounter of the accused and allotment of a house under the chief minister's housing scheme, among other demands.

The family separately demanded stringent action against police personnel accused of negligence in handling the case.

Three police personnel, including the Paraspur station house officer (SHO), were suspended on Thursday for alleged negligence and dereliction of duty in connection with Sahani's killing. The suspended personnel are Paraspur SHO sub-inspector Kamala Shankar Chaturvedi, Shahpur outpost in-charge sub-inspector Ankit Singh and constable Abhimanyu Bharti. A departmental inquiry has also been ordered.

Security was stepped up across Gonda, with police personnel from Paraspur, Tarabganj, Nawabganj and Colonelganj police stations deployed in the area under the supervision of ASP (West) Radheshyam Rai.

The administration erected barricades on roads leading to Colonelganj village and increased security at the collectorate, the district magistrate's residence, the superintendent of police's office and the circuit house.

Nishad, who travelled from Lucknow to Gonda by road, reached the circuit house and expressed displeasure over the heavy police deployment. He said police personnel should instead be deployed at the houses of the accused to prevent any untoward incident, including arson.

He later held a closed-door meeting with the district magistrate and SP Abhishek. After the meeting, Nishad walked nearly a kilometre from the circuit house to the collectorate with party workers. Protesters raised slogans against the police administration and demanded the death penalty for Sahani's killers.

Nishad subsequently joined the protesters on the road outside the collectorate, effectively turning the agitation into a public show of dissent by a minister against the administration of which he is a part.

Police have arrested three accused — Shubham Singh alias Golu, Subhash Singh and Akash Singh.

In their nine-point memorandum, the family members also sought allotment of residential or agricultural land, security cover, measures to prevent a recurrence of such incidents and action against those who allegedly provided weapons, money or ideological support to the accused.

Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav spoke to Sahani's son Raja Sahani over the phone and offered his condolences. Former minister Yogesh Pratap Singh and SP leader Kajal Nishad also visited the bereaved family. Congress leader Triloki Nath Tiwari and SP state secretary Digvijay Singh were among those who participated in the protest.

With PTI inputs