25-year-old Babar had complained to the police after getting death threats from his community. No action was taken on his complaint.
In a horrific incident in Uttar Pradesh’s Kushinagar, 25-year-old Babar Ali was lynched by Aarif, Tariq and others for celebrating Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath’s victory.
Ali was a die-hard fan of Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and had campaigned for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the recently concluded assembly polls.
After BJP’s massive victory in the election results declared on March 10, Ali had distributed sweets in his neighbourhood. This did not go down well with the members of his community, and they warned Ali to distance himself from the BJP.
Ali refused to budge. He was happy with the development initiatives of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and requested his community members to do a fair analysis. But they kept asking Ali to shift loyalties to the Samajwadi Party.
On March 20, when Ali was returning from his shop, Aarif, Tariq, and other community members surrounded him and started thrashing him. Despite his repeated pleas, they did not relent.
The incident took place in the Kathgharhi village of Ramkola police station in the Kushinagar district of Uttar Pradesh. On March 21, Ali’s wife, Fatima Khatoon, had registered a complaint in the Ramkola police station. Based on Khatoon’s complaint, police had initiated an inquiry.
Ali was referred to the district hospital from the local primary health centre. When his condition started deteriorating in the district hospital, he was referred to Lucknow for further treatment, where he died during the treatment.
On Sunday (March 27), Kushinagar police said they had registered an FIR in the case on March 21 itself and were investigating the matter. Now, after the death of Ali, relevant sections will be added to the FIR. Aarif and Tariq have been arrested, and the search for others involved in the lynching is on.
Local BJP MLA PN Pathak assured the family members of Ali that swift action would be taken in the case, and all the accused would be arrested soon. He also shouldered Ali’s funeral procession.
In the just-concluded assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh, the BJP won 255 seats and crossed the 275 mark with alliance partners. In a house strength of 403, 202 is needed for a simple majority.
On Friday (March 25), Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath took oath in a grand ceremony in Lucknow. The oath ceremony was attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
