Two latest detentions—Chhotu alias Sujeet Agrahari and Avinesh Singh alias Saurabh Singh Baghel—raise total to 14; NSA and Gangsters Act invoked.
Lynching fueled by false 'drone thief' rumors; viral video captures victim's desperate pleas amid assault in Unchahar village.
Congress demands SIT probe and CM's ouster; protests highlight UP's law-order crisis and caste tensions.
Uttar Pradesh police arrested two more suspects on October 13 and 14 in the horrific lynching of Dalit man Hariom Valmiki, who was beaten to death on October 2 after villagers mistook him for a thief amid baseless rumors of drone-assisted burglaries, officials confirmed in a statement. The duo, identified as Chhotu alias Sujeet Agrahari and Avinesh Singh alias Saurabh Singh Baghel—both from Baniyan ka Purwa in Pachkhara village—were nabbed in connection with the Unchahar assault, escalating the total arrests to 14 in a case that has fueled national outrage over caste violence and rural vigilantism.
The arrests cap a week of intensified probes, following four detentions on October 7—including Shiv Prasad Agrahari, Lalli Pasi, and two associates—that brought the tally to nine, and an October 10 police encounter nabbing prime accused Deepak Agrahari, pushing it to 12.
Raebareli Superintendent Yashveer Singh invoked the National Security Act (NSA) and Gangsters Act against the accused, vowing raids for 10-15 remaining fugitives and suspending three officers for response lapses. The case, filed under Section 103 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita for murder, probes the mob's frenzy: Valmiki, a 38-year-old from Fatehpur visiting relatives, was tied, beaten with sticks, and abandoned near a railway track after invoking Rahul Gandhi's name in a viral video, only to face taunts referencing CM Yogi Adityanath.
Political tempers flared as Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi slammed the incident as a "crime against humanity and the Constitution," demanding a Special Investigation Team (SIT) and Adityanath's resignation amid accusations of "mobocracy." Protests erupted with candlelight marches in Lucknow, while police insisted the violence was rumor-driven, not caste-motivated, noting diverse accused backgrounds. Valmiki's family, assured support, awaits justice as the probe delves into social media's role in spreading the "drone chor" panic
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