Body of Dalit pradhan’s husband cremated in Amethi amidst security

The body of a Dalit village pradhan’s husband was cremated at his village, in Amethi district, on Saturday, amidst tension and heavy police deployment, police officials said.

After the cremation, a group of locals surfaced, alleging that those accused in the FIR had been framed by another group of Brahmins, who were backing the victim in panchayat polls.

Arjun Kumar Kori, 50, succumbed to burn injuries on Friday afternoon after he was allegedly set afire on Thursday night by upper caste persons in Amethi’s Bandohiya village. His wife and Chhotakka village pradhan had lodged an FIR of murder and abduction against seven people in the matter.

Amethi superintendent of police (SP) Dinesh Singh said that the body was cremated as per the will of the victim’s family in the presence of hundreds of villagers. He stated that the situation is normal in the village but police deployment will continue for some days to avert any backlash of the incident.

He said three named accused have been sent to jail on Saturday after they were arrested on Friday evening, while efforts are on to find the remaining accused.

Another police official privy to the investigation said that initial findings hint that the incident was a fallout of financial bungling in the village development funds and an enquiry into it has been going on for the past few weeks. He said the victim earlier was backed by the Brahmin group, who were accused in the FIR, but he had joined another group of Brahmins after his wife won the panchayat polls in 2015.