Rae Bareli, Oct 4 (PTI) Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Friday spoke on the phone to the Dalit man whose son, daughter-in-law, and two granddaughters were shot dead by unknown assailants in Amethi.
Senior Congress leader and former Rae Bareli-Amethi MP Sonia Gandhi also extended her sympathy to the family through her son. Congress’s state president Ajay Rai also reached Rae Bareli and met the kin of the deceased.
Meanwhile, former Union Minister and former Amethi MP Smriti Irani spoke to the bereaved family over the phone and assured them of all possible help. Ram Gopal, aged about 60, on Friday arrived in Sudamapuri village in the Unchahar area of Rae Bareli with the bodies of his family members, who were killed in their rented accommodation the previous evening.
Sunil Kumar, 35, a government school teacher, his 32-year-old wife Poonam, and the couple’s two daughters, Drishti and Suni, were shot dead in the Ahorwa Bhawani area of Amethi.
Amethi MP Kishori Lal Sharma, who came to Rae Bareli at Rahul Gandhi’s behest, arranged his phone call with Ram Gopal, which lasted about three minutes, according to visuals.
The brazen wipeout of the Dalit family has drawn widespread denunciation of the state government.
“The way my son has gone, they (killers) should go the same way,” Ram Gopal told reporters earlier in the day in Amethi.
Sharma said he had been in touch with Ram Gopal since yesterday.
“I have spoken to the DM of Amethi and asked him to probe the case from all angles. Let the police investigation get completed,” he said.
“The government keeps patting its back, claiming good law and order, but if that is the case, why are such incidents happening?” he asked.
Sharma, a first-time MP, said it was Rae Bareli MP Rahul Gandhi who had asked him to go to his constituency.
“I spoke to Rahul ji and apprised him about the incident and the situation. He asked me to reach the village. The incident happened in my constituency and the victims were natives of Rahul ji’s parliamentary constituency. Both constituencies are associated with the Gandhi family. He directed me to come here and I am here,” Sharma told reporters.
Later, Sharma told PTI: “Sonia ji also expressed her sympathies for the family. She called to talk to the father over phone but he was not in a condition to speak to her at that time. The father spoke to Rahul ji, who gave Sonia ji’s message to him.” BJP’s former Amethi president Durgesh Tripathi reached Sudamapur village late Friday evening and met the family members of the deceased. Tripathi arranged a phone call of Gopal with Irani during which the former Union minister consoled the family and assured them of all possible help.
Earlier, Irani took to X to condemn the killings.
“The criminal incident that took place in Amethi is extremely heartbreaking and condemnable. The government stands with the victim’s family with full seriousness and is determined to take the strictest action against the culprits,” her post in Hindi read.
In the wake of the incident, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath condoled the loss of lives, while the opposition launched a sharp attack against the BJP dispensation over the law and order in the state.
An initial police probe revealed that Poonam had lodged a police complaint against Chandan Verma in Rae Bareli on August 18 under the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989, and for harassment.
“If anything happens to me or my family, Verma should be held responsible for it,” she had written in the complaint, Amethi Superintendent of Police Anoop Kumar Singh said Thursday.
It was yet to be determined if the two cases are related, he also said. PTI COR KIS NAV MAN CDN RPA
This report is auto-generated from PTI news service. ThePrint holds no responsibility for its content.