Fadnavis Slams Rahul For ‘Killed Because He Was Dalit’ Statement On Parbhani Custody Death

Mumbai: Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Monday came down heavily on Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandh, accusing him of attempting to create hatred among people on caste lines.

Fadnavis was referring to Rahul’s statement after visiting kin of Somanth Suryavanshi, who died in judicial custody, after violence in Parbhani earlier this month. The LoP claimed that he was killed because he was a Dalit and was fighting to protect the Constitution, while addressing a presser.

“Rahul Gandhi’s visit to Parbhani was politically motivated. His sole objective is to spread division among people and different castes. He has been consistently doing this for years. I think he has completed his job of spreading hatred in Parbhani,” the Maharashtra CM told reporters in Pune.

Fadnavis also informed that a judicial inquiry will be conducted into Parbhani violence and the strictest action will be taken against the guilty.

Earlier in the day, Rahul criticised the Maharashtra government for its handling of the case and demanded accountability and swift justice for the victims of police brutality. “”He has been murdered and the chief minister lied in the Assembly to give a message to the police. This young man was killed because he was a Dalit and was protecting the Constitution. The ideology of the RSS is to destroy the Constitution. We want this matter to be resolved immediately and those who have done this should be punished. No politics is being done. The ideology is responsible, because the chief minister has made this statement so the Chief Minister is responsible, those who have killed him are responsible and action should be taken as soon as possible,” he said.

Rahul stated that he had seen the postmortem report, videos and photographs and Suryawanshi’s demise was a “100 per cent custodial death”.

Suryavanshi (35), a resident of Shankar Nagar in Parbhani, was among the more than 50 persons arrested in connection with the violence, which broke out on December 10 following the desecration of a glass-enclosed replica of the Constitution near Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar’s statue outside the railway station in the city. He was lodged in Parbhani district central jail and died on December 15 at a state-run hospital after complaining of chest pain and uneasiness.