Killing of another saffron leader in Rae Bareli is unsolved

| | Lucknow | in Lucknow

It is not yet clear whether the killing of another saffron leader in Rae Bareli on Thursday night was a planned move to whip up communal passion or was an attack out of personal enmity. However, the UP Police see no larger conspiracy behind it and DGP, OP Singh said that strict action was being initiated against the accused by slapping National Security Act (NSA) against them.  

On Thursday evening, BJP’s regional unit vice-president of Shivgarh and Kasna Nagar Panchayatco-ordinator, Ganga Sagar Pandey was sprayed with bullets by unknown assailants. In the aftermath, several party leaders converged there to register their anger. 

Later, Pandey’s brother lodged a case naming Lalchand Shukla, Shailendra Awasthi, Vijay Kumar Shukla, Ajay Kumar Shukla, Arun Kumar Shukla, Prem Chand Shukla, Akhilesh Shukla, Mohit Shukla, Shailendra Shukla, Mansa Ram Shukla, and Phool Chandra Shukla.  The police also swung into action and arrested Lalchand and Shailendra. 

Though the Rae Bareli police claimed that the killing was a fall out of a personal enmity, the series of attack on Saffron leaders in the last few days in UP point towards a conspiracy to disturb communal harmony. 

Only on July 4, Rastriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS) worker Dileep Sharma was shot dead in Ferozabad after which the police arrested the victim’s neighbour Pawan Upadhyay. However the accused denied the allegations in front of the media even as the SP claimed that police had concrete proof against him to prove his complicity. 

Only three days later, unidentified gunmen shot at and injured another RSS functionary Brijesh Sharma in Mathsena areaa of Ferozabad. A resident of Kaneta village, Sharma was shot at while returning home after closing his shop. 

Sharma’s family alleged that some people from their village targeted him over an old rivalry due to a land dispute. 

Several Hindu outfits reached the spot after the incident and questioned the working of police. On the complaint of a kin, a case was registered against five persons and a manhunt was launched. Even as Ferozabad police took both incidents as routine, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath reacted strongly and removed SP, Rahul Yadvendu soon after. 

Besides an attempt on the life on a Hindu Mahasabha leader was also made in nearby Farukkabad recently.