Two accused from same UP village

Two youths allegedly involved in the killing of Baba Siddique are from Gandara village in Bahraich district of Uttar Pradesh. Both Dharmaraj Kashyap and Shiv Kumar alias Shiva Gautam are from regular families and have no criminal history, police said on Sunday.

SP Vrinda Shukla said both of them were working at a scrapyard in Pune, Maharashtra. They have no criminal history in Bahraich, he said. While Dharmaraj has been arrested, Shiv Kumar is still missing. 

Kaiserganj Circle Officer (CO) Anil Kumar Singh said, “Shiv Kumar had gone to Maharashtra a few years ago to work as a labourer and had invited Dharmaraj to join him.”

Shiva’s mother, Suman, expressed shock and disbelief at the allegations. While speaking to the media, she described her son as a hardworking and peaceful person. She said that he had gone to Pune to work at a scrapyard and had last visited the village during Holi.

“Policemen and media people have been coming and going since morning asking about Shiva. The police have questioned us too,” she added.

Dharmaraj’s mother Kusum also said he had gone to Pune to work as a scrap dealer. “When the police came to our house in the morning, we came to know that my son is involved in some case.”

Though they have no criminal history in Bahraich, still, as a precaution, “the police are trying to gather information about both of them”, SP Vrinda Shukla told mediapersons.

“They belong to normal families and both were in touch with their families. A police team visited their homes to find out whether they have any information about this incident,” she added.

Head of the village Hasnain Kamal said the villagers were unaware of the alleged involvement of the two men in the murder. “Shiva or Dharmaraj have no criminal history in the village and could be victims of a conspiracy,” he said.