UP: 6 people have been arrested, including a police officer, after a Dalit family’s three members were killed in Kaushambi

Officials said on Thursday that the Uttar Pradesh Police had detained six more suspects, among them a policeman, in connection with the suspected murder last week in Kaushambi of three members of a Dalit family over a property dispute.

Eight people are now being arrested in connection with the dramatic case as a result of the arrests that were made over the night of September 20–21, including the accused mastermind and police policeman Suresh Singh. On September 15, the day of the event, two people were detained.

The three Dalit family members were reportedly murdered due to a land dispute: Shivsharan (30), his wife Brijkali (25) and his father-in-law Horilal (60). Angry residents had set fire to a number of homes in the hamlet after the deaths. The six people detained are police constable Suresh Singh, Yadavendra alias Guddu Yadav, Arvind Singh Yadav, Amit Singh Chauhan, Anuj Singh Chauhan, and Tirath Nishad, according to Superintendent of Police Brijesh Kumar Srivastava on Thursday.

Amar Singh and Ajit Singh, two defendants, were previously taken into custody in this case. The accused was found to be in possession of country-made handguns, rifles, and live ammunition, according to the police.

Constable Suresh Singh, according to the SP, was the incident’s mastermind. Three other names have surfaced during questioning, and police are attempting to detain them. It has been claimed that the accused, who belong to a lower caste, sought to expel Shivsaran from the property and seize it.

Shivsharan, a local of Kakarabad village, had purchased the plot of property next to his in-laws’ residence in Chhabile Pur village three years before. On the property, he constructed a home and Brijkali joined him there. On the basis of the allegation of Horilal’s son Subhash Kumar, SP Srivastava said that a FIR was filed against eight individuals in accordance with the provisions of the Indian Penal Code and the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act. The FIR contains provisions from the Arms Act and Section 120 B (conspiracy) of the IPC.