PILIBHIT: Suraj Pal, an instructor at a government primary school in Uttar Pradesh who had been assigned the additional duty of a booth level officer (BLO), was brutally beaten up by a local village strongman on Thursday for refusing to enlist "fake voters" for the forthcoming state panchayat polls. Pal, 40, succumbed on the way to the health facility.
The school instructor of Kuboolpur village under Barkhera police station in Pilibhit district was involved in enlisting names of new voters as part of the ongoing process of revising the voter list.
An FIR has been lodged following a complaint by Pal's son Sanjay Pratap. The BLO's body has been sent for autopsy. No arrest has been made so far. Also, no murder charges have been included in the FIR.
SHO Kamal Singh said that police had lodged an FIR against the accused under section 304 [culpable homicide not amounting to murder] of the IPC. The police may add a few more sections once the autopsy report is out, he added.
According to Pratap, his father went to work on Thursday morning. He was busy with his work when the accused of the same village barged into his office at 1.30pm and demanded that his father should include some "fake names" on the voter list.
When his father refused, the accused allegedly grabbed him by his throat and threw him on the ground. He was then punched and kicked repeatedly.
School headmaster Dev Dutt Gangwar, who was reportedly present at the spot, remained a silent spectator, Pal's son alleged in the complaint.
Pratap also said that his injured father tried to narrate the incident to him on their way to the health facility. The BLO, however, passed away before they could reach the facility.