Lucknow: The Uttar Pradesh Police have announced a reward of Rs 1 lakh on the head of Gaurav Sharma, the main accused, who shot a farmer for daring to lodge a molestation case against him.
The police have also announced reward of Rs 25,000 each on two more accused involved in the crime. Gaurav and five others had shot Amrish Kumar Varma (48), a farmer, on Monday afternoon when he was working in the field in Nauzarpur village under Sasnigate Police Station in Hathras district.
The police have so far arrested one of the named accused and let off a suspect who was detained for questioning. The Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath had taken serious note of the farmer’s killing after a video of the deceased's daughter wailing to seek justice went viral. The CM had directed the police to slap NSA and arrest all the accused within 24 hours.
Under pressure from the CM Office, the Police on Wednesday announced Rs 1 lakh reward on Gaurav and Rs 25,000 on two others to anyone sharing the whereabouts of the accused.
Old enmity was stated to be the reason behind farmer’s killing. The deceased had registered an FIR against Gaurav in 2018 when the latter had molested his daughter. Gaurav was arrested and spent 15 days in jail. He was on bail and mounting pressure on the deceased to withdraw the case.
On Monday morning, the deceased daughters went to a temple where they met Gaurav’s wife and aunt, who made some comments against both sisters. They had heated arguments. Amrish too rushed to the temple after receiving a call from his elder daughter and warned Gaurav’s wife and aunt to stay away from his family.
Gaurav got enraged when he came to know about the altercation that took place between members of the two families. He took five others in his car and went to Amrish’s fields. Before the farmer could realize anything, he pumped several bullets on his body killing him on the spot.
Deceased’s wife shared another reason with the police for her husband's killing. She said that Gaurav was already married but was forcing her late husband to marry off their younger daughter with him. He had threatened to kill my husband if he did not do so.
