CM Adityanath meets family of BJP worker who died after police lathicharge in Ghazipur

Lucknow/Ghazipur (UP), Sep 15 (PTI) A day after constituting a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe the death of a BJP worker who was allegedly injured in a police lathicharge in Ghazipur district, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Monday met his family members in Lucknow and assured them of strict action against those found guilty in the matter.

On September 9, BJP worker Siyaram Upadhyay (35) was injured after police allegedly used lathicharge against around 20-25 people who were sitting on a dharna outside the Nonhara police station against the installation of an electricity pole in the area.

Upadhyay died during treatment on September 11. Six policemen were suspended while five were taken off active duty following the incident.

MLC Vishal Singh Chanchal, who accompanied Upadhyay's father Girija Upadhyay and brother Ravikant during their meeting with the chief minister in Lucknow, said the victim's family apprised the CM about the details of the incident.

They said that the lathicharge incident took place in the night but Upadhayay returned home in the morning, according to the MLC. Adityanath directed officials to include this information in the ongoing probe, he said.

On Sunday, the government had constituted a three-member SIT headed by Kashi zone DCP Gaurav Banswal with Additional CP (Varanasi) Anshuman Mishra and Assistant CP (Varanasi Cantt) Nitin Taneza as its members.

BJP's Ghazipur incharge Rakesh Trivedi, district president Om Prakash Rai and former district chief Bhanupratap Singh had met Chief Minister Adityanath on Sunday and apprised him about the incident.

On Monday, Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav targeted the BJP government over the case. He alleged the BJP government of running the state "with pressure" tactics rather than by the "Constitution and law" and cited recent cases in Kaushambi and Ghazipur as examples.

Referring to a video he shared on social media, Yadav alleged that the family of the man who died in Ghazipur was pressured into "accepting a compromise" after initially demanding justice.

"From Ghazipur to Ghaziabad, even BJP's own MLAs and ministers are sitting on protests against the police and administration," Yadav said, accusing ruling party leaders of shielding illegal activities. PTI CORR ABN RT