Akhilesh Yadav and Mayawati express anger over brick-batting of an OBC man in Meerut
Uttar Pradesh: Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav and Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) president Mayawati have condemned the murder of a youth from the backward class in the Sardhana area of Meerut. Both leaders on Sunday appealed to the government to remain vigilant and proactive in preventing such crimes.
In a post on X, Mayawati said that the murder of a youth from the Kashyap community, which belongs to the Other Backward Class (OBC), on January 5th should be strongly condemned.
She stressed that anti-social and criminal elements should fear the law.
In her post, the SP chief said, “On behalf of the entire PDA community, we raise our voice against the heinous act of goons who burned alive a youth from the Kashyap community in Jwalagarh, Sardhana area.” Responding to the post, Meerut police said that this was not a recent incident and that they had registered an FIR for murder and solved the crime within 24 hours of the incident. He said the accused, a minor, was produced before the Juvenile Justice Board and sent to a juvenile home.
According to police, the incident occurred on January 5th on the Akhepur-Rardhana Road.
The victim was identified as 28-year-old Rohit alias Sonu, a resident of the Qila area of Muzaffarnagar city.
Investigation revealed that the crime occurred after an argument over loud music in a tempo. The accused, a 16-year-old tempo driver, allegedly attacked Rohit with a brick, resulting in his death.
Circle Officer (Sardhana) Ashutosh Kumar said the accused first befriended Rohit, offered him alcohol while he drank an energy drink, and later hit him on the head with a brick.
To conceal his identity, the accused dragged the body about 15 meters to a spot near a school wall and set it on fire using clothes, dry leaves, and oil.
The incident came to light when a school watchman noticed the fire late at night and alerted the police. The body was identified the next day.
The family stated that Rohit worked as a confectioner in Mumbai and had come to his village to find a bride. Police said the accused was identified through barcodes on liquor pouches found at the scene and CCTV footage from the liquor shop.
