Lucknow: The last rites of a woman and her daughter killed in a fire during an anti-encroachment drive in UP’s Madauli village two days ago were conducted amid heavy police presence Wednesday. The deaths, which have sparked a political uproar, however remain shrouded in mystery.
The UP government Wednesday constituted a two-member inquiry committee to probe the matter. The panel includes Additional Director General of Police (Kanpur) Alok Singh and Divisional Commissioner Raj Shekhar.
According to an FIR registered Tuesday, the woman’s son has alleged that their shanty was set ablaze at the behest of the local sub-divisional magistrate (SDM). The police had initially claimed that she had locked herself in the shanty while threatening to self-immolate.
The incident took place during an anti-encroachment exercise in UP’s Kanpur Dehat district. Pramila Dixit (46) and her daughter Neha (22) were engulfed in flames around 3 pm Monday after a fire broke out in their shanty in the presence of several police officers and district administration officials. Pramila’s son Shivam and husband Krishan Gopal Dixit managed to escape the blaze.
Police have so far booked 12 people including Maitha SDM Gyaneshwar Prasad, Madauli lekhpal (accountant) Ashok Singh, Rura station house officer (SHO) Dinesh Gautam, and Deepak, a JCB driver, apart from 12-15 unnamed policemen in connection with the deaths. Charges include murder, attempt to murder, mischief by fire or explosive substance with intent to destroy house, common intention, etc.
A JCB driver and an accountant have been arrested so far. The FIR also mentions Ashok Dixit, Anil Dixit, Nirmal Dixit and Vishal — who had flagged the issue of alleged illegal encroachment.
ThePrint reached ADG (Kanpur) Alok Singh seeking comment, but did not get a response. This report will be updated if a response are received.
The Kanpur Police in a statement released Tuesday said the mother-daughter died after being burnt in a fire under grievous circumstances when a revenue department team led by SDM Maitha tried to remove illegal encroachments in Madauli village.
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‘They set the shanty on fire’
Pramila and her family had taken shelter in the shanty after the district administration allegedly demolished their pucca house on 14 January on grounds that it was built on gram sabha land.
According to the FIR, Pramila’s son Shivam has alleged that the JCB driver was directed to demolish the structure without warning the family of four, who were resting inside.
The demolition order issued Monday by the Maitha SDM, a copy of which is with ThePrint, cited a villagers’ complaint against Pramila’s husband Krishan. It states that Krishan Gopal failed to clear the encroachment, which prompted action against him last month, and that he threatened the complainant and the lekhpal.
In an over two minute-long video that is doing the rounds on social media, Pramila is purportedly seen rushing to the shanty and bolting the door from the inside as officials ask her to vacate the structure. Within seconds, a few police officers can be seen breaking the door after which people can be heard shouting, “They set the shanty on fire.”
Moments later, a bulldozer enters the frame and demolishes the shanty. ThePrint has not been able to independently confirm if the video is of the incident.
Victim’s son says family wasn’t warned
Pramila’s son Shivam alleged in his complaint to the police that the officials in question reached the shanty to carry out the demolition without giving the family prior notice.
According to the FIR, Shivam said his family’s ancestors had lived on that land over the last 100 years and his family built a pucca house there around 20 years ago.
“On 14 January, SDM Gyaneshwar Prasad, local tehsildar, kanungo, Madauli lekhpal Ashok Singh and the Rura SHO Dinesh Gautam reached the spot along with 12-15 cops to demolish my house without any prior information or notice,” he further alleged, adding that he was beaten up by the police and that his father also sustained burn injuries on Monday.
“The CM or deputy CM should come and see the genocide that has happened here. They have not arrested anyone. The FIR is only a whitewash. I demand that the CM should reach here and take cognizance of this,” Shivam told reporters Tuesday.
Demanding the arrests of all police officers and district administration officials who were tasked with the demolition, he alleged that the deaths of his mother and sister were “pre-planned murder”.
“They were burnt alive. My father and I were saved because we managed to come out of the shanty. My father suffered serious injuries while I suffered minor injuries. The DM has not come even once because she herself is an accomplice in this matter,” he said. He also dismissed the police theory that Pramila self-immolated.
On Monday evening, when senior officials led by Kanpur Divisional Commissioner Raj Shekhar arrived at the spot to retrieve the bodies of the deceased for post-mortem, the family refused to hand them over. The bodies were finally retrieved Tuesday afternoon.
“Deputy CM Brajesh Pathak spoke to the aggrieved family on video call and after listening to them, directed officials to initiate action on the demands of the family,” divisional commissioner Raj Shekhar told reporters Tuesday. He added that the Maitha SDM and accountant have been suspended and a departmental inquiry has been initiated against the accused officers.
Opposition demands action
With videos of the incident going viral on social media, at least three Samajwadi Party (SP) MLAs tried reaching the spot to meet the aggrieved family but claimed they were stopped by the police.
Attacking the Yogi Adityanath-led BJP government over the incident, party chief and former UP chief minister Akhilesh Yadav wrote on Twitter that a government is “nearing its end” when it “becomes a symbol of fear and harassment”.
SP spokesperson Rajendra Chaudhary alleged an eleven-member delegation of party leaders was not allowed to reach Madauli. Party chief whip in assembly Manoj Pandey, said at a press conference Wednesday: “Where is this bulldozer operating from? There is no meaning of extending condolences over phone (on Deputy CM’s video call).”
Pandey also urged the UP government to give the family two cheques of Rs 5 crore each, in addition to a government job for someone in the family.
A delegation of Congress leaders comprising the party’s state chief Brijlal Khabri and regional presidents Nasimuddin Siddiqui and Nakul Dubey too made attempts to reach the village but were detained at the Nawabganj toll. On Wednesday, hundreds of Congress workers staged a protest near the Raj Bhavan in Lucknow.
Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), meanwhile, compared law and order in the state with “Taliban rule”. Singh, who is the party’s in-charge of UP, wrote in a tweet, “A crying son is saying that his mother is burning. Dhikkar hai Yogi sarkar (Shame on Yogi government).”
Meanwhile, Adityanath in an interview to ABP News said: “We have constituted a magisterial inquiry. It is a part of investigation process, we should wait for the report once. It is a sensitive matter and the truth will come out.”
(Edited by Amrtansh Arora)
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