Pratapgarh (Uttar Pradesh): In a shocking incident on Monday night, a young man was tied to a tree and set afire by the family of a woman with whom he was allegedly having an affair in Pratapgarh district of Uttar Pradesh.
The deceased man, identified as Ambika Patel, 25, was a resident of Bhujauni village under Fatanpur police station.
According to sources, enraged over the incident, his family members and local people turned violent and set two police vehicles on fire. Additional forces were rushed in to control the situation that remains tense. The body has been sent for post mortem.
According to Superintendent of Police (SP), Pratapgarh, Abhishek Singh, "Some people barged into the house of Ambika Patel and dragged him away. They then tied Patel to a tree some distance away and set him on fire after sprinkling petrol on him. They fled immediately after."
"An FIR has been registered under Section 302 (murder) and 201 (causing disappearance of evidence of an offence or giving false information to screen offender) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and two persons have been arrested in the matter," Superintendent of Police (SP) Abhishek Singh told reporters.
The arrested have been identified as Harishankar and Shubham Patel. Efforts are underway to arrest others accused in the crime.
The police said that they received information about the incident at 8 pm on Monday, following which they arrived at the spot, where the family of the victim attacked the cops and set two of their vehicles on fire.
Agitated family members and villagers assembled at the site and set a 112 police response vehicle (PRV) and another police jeep on fire.
The official said that Patel's relatives claimed that he was having an affair with a woman from his village and this had resulted in many face-offs between the families. Patel had reportedly shared a video clip of the woman on social media a few months ago further increasing tension between the families.
The woman's family members had registered a police complaint against Patel in this connection at the Fatanpur police station that led to his arrest. He was released from jail recently, police added.
The woman had been recently selected as a police constable and was posted to Kanpur.
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(inputs from ANI and IANS)
