11 of Stone-pelting Mob Held for Cop's Murder, Son Says UP Police Can't Even Protect Its Own

Lucknow: As many as 11 people have been arrested in connection with the stone-pelting incident in which a police constable was killed in Uttar Pradesh's Ghazipur on Saturday.

A police officer told News18 that the 19 men were apprehended during an overnight raid, of which 11 have been booked for the constable's murder. "Thirty-two have been named in the FIR, while 60 unnamed people are also mentioned in the report," said Ghazipur City circle officer MP Pathak.

The officer said that arrests were made based on video footage and police was interrogating the men.

Constable Suresh Vats (48) from Karimuddinpur police station was hit on the head by a stone when he went to end a traffic jam caused by the protests. He was immediately taken to hospital, but he succumbed to injuries.

Superintendent of Police (Ghazipur) Yashveer Singh said that the protesters, who were hurling stones at the vehicles returning from PM Modi's rally, were workers of the Rashtriya Nishad Party. They were demanding reservation for the Mallah community (fishermen), he said.

"When a policeman's life is threatened during a mob attack, how can we expect them to protect a common man? What will we do with the compensation now? Nothing has changed even when there were similar incidents in Bulandshahr and Pratapgarh," said VP Singh, son of the deceased constable.

Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath had announced a compensation of Rs 40 lakh for the wife of the dead constable and Rs 10 lakh for his parents. He also directed the district magistrate and the superintendent of police to take strict action against unruly elements and immediately arrest them.

The death comes less than a month after the killing of Inspector Subodh Kumar Singh, who was shot dead during mob violence in Bulandshahr district over alleged cow slaughter. The man who allegedly shot the Bulandshahr inspector was arrested this week.

Modi had addressed a public meeting after laying the foundation stone for a medical college and releasing a postal stamp on Maharaj Suheldev. He had left for Varanasi when the violence in Ghazipur took place.