2 min readLudhianaOct 12, 2016 11:42 AM IST
First published on: Oct 12, 2016 at 01:27 AM IST
A Dalit youth was found dead, with his left leg chopped off, at Gharangna village of Punjab’s Mansa district on Monday night.
Six persons, all belonging to an upper caste and residing in the same village, have been booked for the murder of Sukhchain Singh Pali (22), police said. The body is in the mortuary of the Mansa civil hospital. Pali’s family members said they would not cremate the body until the missing leg is recovered and the accused are arrested.
According to the complaint filed by his father Resham Singh, Pali was attacked by a rival group while he was returning to his village late Monday. The group was allegedly led by landlords of the village Amandeep, Balbir Singh and others, who are reportedly involved in liquor smuggling. Pali was reportedly involved in the same business.
Hearing about the attack from Pali’s friends, Resham Singh reportedly went to the police and asked them to trace his son. Pali’s body was reportedly found in Balbir’s house around 10 pm Monday night. The left leg was missing. An FIR was lodged against Amandeep, Balbir, Sita Singh, Babreeq Singh, Hardeep Singh and Sadhu Singh on Resham’s complaint. The post-mortem is yet to be conducted.
Sources said that Pali’s group and Amandeep’s group had clashed around a dozen times in the past few months.
SSP Mansa Mukhwinder Singh said, “We will arrest the culprits soon. Our teams are on the job. No one involved in this crime will be spared.”
CPI(ML) leader Amrik Singh Samao and Mazdoor Mukti Morcha’s Gurmeet Singh Nandgarh came out in support of Pali’s family. They gathered outside the civil hospital on Tuesday demanding arrest of the accused, and alleged that atrocities against Dalits were on the rise.
Village sarpanch Sardool Singh also backed the Dalit family and condemned the crime.
In December last year, another Dalit boy, Bheem Taank, was found dead in Abohar with his hand and leg and chopped off.
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