A 38-year-old Dalit man was allegedly lynched by local villagers in Uttar Pradesh’s Raebareli who suspected him of being a “drone chor”, amid widespread rumours across the state that people are using drones to steal from homes. The incident took a political turn, with the Congress targeting the BJP government over the incident, calling it a failure of law and order. Leader of Opposition and Raebareli MP Rahul Gandhi spoke to the family of the victim, Hariom, over the phone, while Uttar Pradesh Congress president Ajay Rai visited the family’s home in Fatehpur and assured them of the party’s support. According to police, on October 2, they first found a man’s body was found near a railway track in Unchahar. It was sent for post-mortem examination to determine the exact cause of death. Later, a purported video went viral on social media, showing the man being brutally beaten by a group of villagers, who were heard demanding that he reveal the name of his alleged accomplices. Police said five people were identified through the video and arrested in connection with the assault and an FIR under Section 105 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder) of the BNS has been registered. UP DGP Rajeev Krishna said three police personnel, including a sub-inspector, have been suspended for negligence. “In the Unchahar area, a man was beaten to death by some people, who mistook him for a thief. An FIR has been lodged and five accused have been arrested. Raids are being conducted to catch the remaining accused,” said ASP, Raebareli, Sanjeev Kumar Sinha. After meeting the family, Ajay Rai said on X that the “brutal lynching is a horrifying picture of the jungle raj under the Yogi government”. In a video he shared on X, he alleged, “Hariom Valmiki was on his way to meet his wife when he was beaten in the presence of the police. When he took Rahul Gandhi’s name, the attackers said, ‘Hum bhi Baba ke log hain.” "Yeh Baba ke log pure Pradesh mein Gundayi kar rahe hain," he added. Congress general secretary KC Venugopal in a post on X alleged that under CM Yogi Adityanath, Uttar Pradesh has turned into hell for Dalits, minorities and backward communities. The Uttar Pradesh Congress posted on X, “Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi spoke with the father and brother of the young man killed in this inhumane killing in Rae Bareli and listened to their pain, while offering condolences. He assured the family that Congress would stand with them like a rock in the fight against this injustice.” Police launch crackdown Rumours over drones, meanwhile, have kept police across several districts on their toes. To tackle the menace, authorities are adopting a three-point strategy: issuing fresh instructions to implement a 2023 Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) on drone usage; launching an awareness drive to urge people not to fall prey to rumours; and identifying drone owners with help from online marketing platforms. “We are undertaking a massive drive across the district. First, we identified drone owners by requesting commercial online platforms to share data on drone sales in the district over the past year. Using this, about 150 drone owners were identified, and approximately 90 drones have been confiscated so far. The process is ongoing to return some of these drones after issuing proper warnings and informing owners about the guidelines. Each drone is being registered at the respective police station,” ASP Sinha told The Indian Express. As per the 2023 SOP, instructions have been issued to maintain a ‘drone register’ in every police station with details of each owner, who is required to inform the police prior to any public use of the drone. UP DGP Rajeev Krishna said the problem has reduced to a great extent but there are isolated cases. “The ‘theft through drones’ rumour started in Western UP districts such as Bareilly and Meerut. But we adopted a three-point strategy to tackle it: awareness, timely response to such calls, and legal action against those spreading false rumours,” Krishna told The Indian Express. He said instructions have been issued to all to implement the 2023 SOP and hold awareness meetings with gram pradhans and village chaukidars. Stating that the Raebareli incident is heartbreaking, Krishna also urged people not to spread rumours related to caste. “While the police are taking corrective measures, I want to state very clearly: not a single case in the entire state is linked to drone theft. All such reports have turned out to be either mischievous or based on fake,” said Krishna. Officials said investigations into drone theft reports have uncovered several false cases. In one instance, a son spread rumours of a drone theft after stealing gold from his mother, which was later recovered. In another case, a woman who lost her earnings while visiting a local bazaar blamed a “drone thief,” but it was later revealed that she fabricated the story to avoid being scolded by her family. Superintendent of Police, Raebareli, Yashveer Singh, said they are reaching out to gram pradhans using 25 public address systems mounted on two- and three-wheelers to spread awareness that there is no such thing as a “drone thief”. He said despite this, emergency numbers get calls about ‘drone thief’ sightings. “Another FIR has been lodged in the Mill area, where such fake rumors were being spread.”
