Lucknow: A Dalit man was thrashed to death allegedly by a mob in Uttar Pradesh’s Rae Bareli district on suspicion of being a “drone chor (thief)”, with the incident taking a political turn Sunday after the Congress claimed he was attacked because he mentioned senior party leader Rahul Gandhi’s name.
A purported video of the victim, identified as Hariom, surrounded by a group of men has surfaced on social media. The incident took place Thursday but came to light two days later.
The clip shows the men threatening and roughing up the victim, who faintly mumbles words, including “Rahul Gandhi”. The men can be heard in Hindi that “everyone here supports Baba”. Congress leaders Sunday alleged that the attackers had identified themselves as “Baba ke log” (supporters of UP CM Yogi Adityanath) in the video.
Based on a complaint from the victim’s father, Ganga Deen, the police registered a case and arrested five persons Sunday, identified as Vaibhav Singh, Vipin Kumar, Vijay Maurya, Suresh Kumar and Sahdev, in the matter.
थाना ऊंचाहार क्षेत्र अतंर्गत कुछ लोगों द्वारा एक युवक को चोर समझ कर पीटकर उसकी हत्या किए जाने के संबंध में अपर पुलिस अधीक्षक रायबरेली श्री संजीव कुमार सिन्हा का वक्तव्य-#UPPolice #Raebarelipolice pic.twitter.com/R1cw1f1iNt
— Raebareli Police (@raebarelipolice) October 5, 2025
Later, the Rae Bareli Superintendent of Police suspended the Unchahar station house officer, local in-charge, and three other policemen for not handling the case properly.
According to police officials, a leather belt, a white shirt, a vest belonging to the victim and a eucalyptus stick used in the attack were recovered during investigation. Officials said they are still trying to identify and arrest other persons part of the assaulting mob.
In a post on X Sunday, Congress spokesperson Shama Mohamed said she had seen the “very disturbing video” from Rae Bareli, where a Dalit youth named Hariom was lynched.
“When he repeated said ‘Rahul Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi’, those criminals claimed they were supporters of Yogi,” she alleged, mentioning Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.
“This is what the double engine government of Yogi and (Prime Minister Narendra) Modi has done in Uttar Pradesh. Their politics of hate is costing the lives of Dalits and other marginalised,” she wrote. “Muslims are being attacked, women are unsafe, and Dalits and OBCs are being targeted. No one is safe under the BJP government anywhere,” she added.
Congress’s communication in-charge Pawan Khera termed the “horrific lynching” as both “heartbreaking and enraging”.
“In his final moments, as he was being mercilessly beaten with sticks and belts, the deceased young man remembered his last hope – Shri Rahul Gandhi,” he wrote on X.
“For Rahul ji, who represents Raebareli in Parliament and considers its people his family, this tragedy is deeply wounding.”
“He (Gandhi) has personally spoken to the father and brother of the deceased and stands in complete solidarity with them in this hour of unbearable grief,” Khera added. “He has also expressed his profound concern over the dangerous normalisation of lynching in India, vowing that such violent elements must face their legal end. Justice must be served.”
Congress UP chief Ajay Rai visited the victim’s house in Fatehpur Monday and demanded justice and compensation for the family.
UP Deputy CM Brajesh Pathak, commenting on the murder, told reporters: “This is a deeply tragic incident, and I strongly condemn it. Strict action will be taken against anyone found guilty. If any police officers are involved, they will also be held accountable.”
‘Drone chor’ suspicions
The incident comes amid rumours of “drone theft” spreading across rural areas of Uttar Pradesh over the past two months. It refers to the act of drones being used by criminal gangs to scout homes for burglary and robbery, or for easy victims to abduct.
The rumours can be traced to Amroha in west UP where stories began to circulate in early July about a gang of thieves allegedly wearing only underwear and smeared with oil using drones to survey homes before burglaries. Concerns about “drone thefts” have since spread to eastern UP districts like Prayagraj, Jaunpur, Pratapgarh, Azamgarh and others.
Many villagers patrol their areas at night now and some confrontations with strangers or suspected intruders have even turned into scuffles.
Sources in the UP police told ThePrint that on the night of 2 October, 38-year-old Hariom, a resident of Fatehpur district, was travelling to the village of his in-laws on the Unchahar-Dalmaun road when around two dozen locals stopped him and started questioning him.
According to police and locals, Hariom told them he was from a nearby village and visiting his in-laws, but they didn’t believe him. Suspecting that he was a “drone thief”, the people started beating him with sticks and belts.
Sources said they later took him to the bank of a canal, tied him to a pole and continued to thrash him while he pleaded that he was innocent. They eventually left him half-conscious near a railway track.
Locals found his body near the track the next morning and called the police. It was taken to the Unchahar community health centre, where doctors declared him dead. Witnesses said the body bore severe injuries on the head, belt marks on the chest and bruises all over.
(Edited by Nida Fatima Siddiqui)