Dalit man lynched in UP's Rae Bareli, Congress alleges Yogi-vs-Rahul Gandhi angle as police blame ‘drone thief’ panic
Congress spokesperson Shama Mohamed on Sunday claimed the attackers were “supporters” of Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath.
A political row has erupted after a 38-year-old Dalit man was beaten to death in Rae Bareli district in Uttar Pradesh in what the police said was due to panic regarding “drone thieves”, referring to rumours that some people are using drones to take away items from homes.
But Congress leaders including spokesperson Shama Mohamed, referring to a viral video of the crime, claimed on Sunday that the lynch mob consisted of supporters of UP chief minister Yogi Adityanath. “When he repeatedly said ‘Rahul Gandhi’, those criminals claimed they were supporters of Yogi,” Mohamed wrote on X.
She pointed fingers at both the state and the central governments, saying “no one is safe under the BJP government”.
A video clip showing a group of men beating the Dalit man, identified as Hariom from Fatehpur, has gone viral on social media.
The man, who is reported to be mentally unstable, can be feebly heard saying some words including “Rahul Gandhi”.
The men then laugh and continue beating him, saying in Hindi that “everyone here is with Baba”, which is being interpreted by the Congress as a reference to Yogi Adityanath.
5 people arrested in the Rae Bareli lynching case
According to a PTI report, police arrested five men in Rae Bareli on Saturday for allegedly lynching Hariom after mistaking him for a “drone thief”.
The police said Hariom was walking to his in-laws' home in Dandepur Jamunapur when a mob surrounded him and accused him of being a member of a gang marking houses with drones for theft.
He was beaten with belts and sticks and died soon after.
Rae Bareli superintendent of police (SP) Dr Yashveer Singh confirmed the arrests and said Unchahar Station House Officer (SHO) Sanjay Kumar had been transferred for negligence. "The local police were aware that rumours were spreading in the area," Dr Singh told PTI.
Rumours of thieves marking houses with drones have spread like wildfire. They have now become deadly and refuse to die down.
