Kanpur Dehat: The Bizarre incident of mother-daughter duo charred to death during an anti-encroachment drive in Kanpur Rural area of Uttar Pradesh has sent shockwaves in the country.
The state government has suspended the Sub Divisional Magistrate (SDM) and the Lekhpal whereas the JCB driver has been arrested. The family members of the deceased first refused to handover the bodies for the post mortem but were later pacified by the Deputy Chief Minister of UP, Brijesh Pathak who spoke with them through video call.
Demolition drive in Madauli village
It may be mentioned that during the demolition drive in Madauli village of Kanpur Rural district on Monday, a mother-daughter duo were charred to death. The family members of deceased accused that the demolition squad member had set the house said to have been built on the encroached land, on fire and two women inside were burnt alive. According to the district administration, the family of deceased had encroached government land and orders were issued to evict them. However, the surviving member of deceased family said that they were not given time to remove belongings and demolition squad burnt the hut as well as the temple constructed there.
The charred body of mother and daughter remained at the spot till 3.30 PM on Tuesday and the agitated villagers did not allow the administration to remove it. According to eye witnesses, the mother and daughter had locked themselves inside a hut which was burnt during the demolition drive. The demolition squad members instead of rescuing both razed the hut.
Opposition slams the Yogi Adityanath government
On Tuesday morning the officials of district administration and police reached at the spot to remove the bodies and sent it for post mortem. However the irate local chased them and refused to give bodies. Later on the Dy CM Pathak intervened and spoke to deceased family over phone and assured action as well as compensation. After this the bodies were sent to hospital for post mortem.
Meanwhile the taking a note of this gruesome incident the opposition parties in UP swung into action. Both congress and Samajwadi Party sent delegations to meet the family of deceased in Kanpur Rural area. Police stopped the delegations of both the parties at the border of Kanpur. The district police lodged FIR against the demolition squad and the SDM Janeshwar Prasad was suspended. The lekhpal and the JCB driver has been arrested.
