Lucknow: A 32-year-old banker, who recently returned with his wife from Dubai to his home city Shahjahanpur, was booked under IPC sections ‘attempt to murder’ and ‘rioting with deadly weapons’ for allegedly peeing on the RSS office wall and ending up in a “brawl” with its members. He was arrested along with his brother and father, and all three were sent to Shahjahanpur district jail.
Shashank Gupta and his wife Ayushi, 27, a software engineer, worked in the United Arab Emirates and returned to Uttar Pradesh five months ago for the birth of their first child. Shashank, his younger brother Shivank (29) and their father Mukesh Kumar Gupta (57) were caught up in the incident on Wednesday night when members of RSS and some right-wing groups registered a complaint after a brawl over “peeing”.
Apart from IPC sections 307 (attempt to murder) and 148 (rioting with deadly weapons), the three men have been charged under other serious sections like 147 (rioting), 149 (guilty of offence committed in prosecution of common object), 504 (intentional insult), 336 (act endangering life or safety of others), 452 (house trespass after preparation for hurt) and 352 (criminal assault).
Eyewitnesses said Shashank argued with people in the RSS office and as his house was 300 metres away, his parents and brother rushed to save him. There are videos purportedly showing RSS members assaulting Shashank. His mother Archana Gupta, 53, said on Saturday, “Shashank suffered injuries and was sent to jail without a proper medical examination. Police are not registering our complaint.”
Refuting her claims, police said preliminary medical tests were conducted on Thursday before the men were sent to jail. Shashank was sent for an X-ray and a medico-legal examination was done on Friday, police added.
Shashank’s relative, who chose not to be named, alleged that Section 307 (attempt to murder) was slapped later due to “political pressure” after SSP Shahjahanpur Ashok Kumar Meena visited the RSS office on Thursday where he met its zonal leaders.
RSS member, Manjeet Kumar, 28, who complained, said “When I was returning to the RSS office after dinner, I saw Shashank peeing on the wall. This is a public place, so I stopped him and then walked to my office. He followed me to the gate and created a ruckus. He called his family members and almost 80 people, including local members of the Congress party, gathered. It looked planned and we locked ourselves in the office even as they threw bricks and tried to break the doors. Police rescued us after around 40 minutes.”
