Gorakhpur, Sep 18 The family of 19-year-old NEET aspirant Deepak Gupta, who was allegedly killed by cattle smugglers in Gorakhpur, has demanded swift and stringent action from the police and called for an 'encounter' of the accused.
Gorakhpur police on Wednesday (September 17) arrested the prime accused, Rahim Khan, following an encounter in which he sustained injuries. Khan was admitted to the hospital for treatment, and police said they recovered a pistol and a motorcycle from him.
Authorities have named several suspects in the case and announced a reward for those still at large, with five dedicated teams conducting raids to apprehend them.
Despite the arrest, the bereaved family said they remain dissatisfied with what they called delayed police action and want harsher measures. They also demand that the remaining accused be arrested "as soon as possible."
Speaking to IANS, Deepak's mother demanded the harshest punishment for the accused.
"We want them to die in the same way they killed our child. We want justice for the innocent child from the Chief Minister. We want a police encounter of the accused. We demand a proper investigation into the matter. If this does not happen, we will stage an indefinite protest in front of the police station and Gorakhnath Temple," she said.
An uncle of the deceased described the harrowing incident and accused the smugglers of attacking the family when Deepak tried to intervene.
"They took our child with them when he tried to stop the smugglers. They then killed him. There were 6-7 people in one vehicle and some others in another one. They have killed our child, and now, we demand appropriate justice. We want an encounter," he told IANS.
The uncle added that he was present during the attack and was threatened at gunpoint, but managed to survive. He and other family members voiced anger at the perceived slow response from authorities and urged Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath to visit and assure them of decisive action.
"He was just 19 years old, and we lost him. We are not at all happy with this action, and we demand that CM Yogi visit us and assure us that strict action will be taken against the accused. It has been four days since the incident, but till now he has not come to our house. We want the accused to die in the same way our child was killed," he said.
Police have not released further operational details as raids continue to track down the remaining suspects and investigations proceed.
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