A police constable was killed in violent protests in Uttar Pradesh's Ghazipur after he was hit by stones. This occured hours after the Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed a rally in the area.
Police identified the attackers as members of the Nishad Party who were holding protests to demand reservation in colleges and government jobs for their community. Nine people were detained.
The police constable was identified as Suresh Vats. He along with his colleagues were returning from security duty for the Prime Minister's rally, when the control room alerted them that a large group of Nishad workers were blocking a highway. The agitators became violent when police asked them to clear the area, they threw bricks and stones at the police.
The Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath announced a compensation of ₹40 lakhs to the wife of the cop and ₹10 lakh to his parents. In recent times there have been an increased number of communal clashes, and mob violences under the Yogi led BJP-government in UP.
The Nishad political party demanded a detailed investigation and claimed that the ruling BJP was trying to sabotage the party. The party enjoys support of backward sections in eastern Uttar Pradesh.
This is a second such incident in Uttar Pradesh where a policeman was killed over mob violence, about few weeks back Inspector Subodh Kumar Singh was shot dead in Bulandshahr after clashes erupted over cow slaughter allegations.
Such events are becoming a normal whenever an election approaches, the Nishad party has high aspirations for the upcoming 2019 Lok Sabha polls.