Lucknow: Nineteen people have been arrested in connection with the killing of a policeman in Uttar Pradesh’s Ghazipur district, a senior police official said on Sunday.
Director General of Police (DGP) O P Singh, in a tweet, clarified that the deceased policeman, Suresh Pratap Singh Vats, was a head constable. Vats (48) was killed Saturday when protesters hurled stones at vehicles returning from the venue of a public meeting addressed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
He was hit on the head by a stone when he went to end a traffic jam caused by the protests.
“The death of head constable Suresh Pratap Singh Vats in Ghazipur in stone pelting is extremely tragic. So far 19 accused in 3 cases have been arrested, which include 11 in the case of murder. Strict action will be taken against those involved in violence under stringent sections of law (sic),” the DGP said in a tweet.
According to Superintendent of Police (Ghazipur) Yashveer Singh, the protesters were workers from the Rashtriya Nishad Party who were prevented by the administration and the police from going to the rally venue.
“When the prime minister had left Ghazipur, the party workers blocked traffic at various places and started pelting stones on the vehicles returning from the programme venue,” he told PTI on Saturday.
Meanwhile, Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav Sunday termed yesterday’s incident of stone- pelting in Ghazipur, which led to the death of a head constable as a failure on the part of the administration.
“The stone pelting incident yesterday in Ghazipur was a failure on the part of the administration. The administration and the intelligence department knew who is protesting and where. Despite this, the unfortunate incident took place,” Akhilesh Yadav told reporters here. (PTI)
