Rahul Gandhi's "Dictatorship" Swipe At Government Over UP Eviction Drive Deaths

After the death of a mother-daughter duo in Uttar Pradesh's Kanpur during an anti-encroachment drive by the administration, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi slammed the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government and said the 'bulldozer policy' has become the face of the cruelty of the government.

"When the arrogance of power takes away the right of the people to live, it is called dictatorship. My mind is disturbed by the incident in Kanpur. This 'bulldozer policy' has become the face of cruelty of this government. India does not accept this," tweeted Rahul Gandhi.

A 44-year-old woman and her daughter were killed after a fire broke out during an anti-encroachment drive at Marauli village of Kanpur Dehat region, the police said on Tuesday.

The women were identified as Pramila Dixit (44) and her daughter, Neha Dixit (22).

The victims' family alleged that officials engaged in the drive set the house on fire when the mother-daughter duo were inside.

Based on the allegations, a case has been registered against over a dozen people including sub divisional magistrate (SDM), station officer (SO), and Lekhpal.

Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Brajesh Pathak spoke to the family of the victims via video call. The Deputy Chief Minister assured all possible help to the victims' family and strict action against the culprits.

According to information, the incident took place in the Marauli village on Monday afternoon during a demolition action by a team of district administration against "illegal encroachment".

The family members protested against the demolition drive and allegedly threatened to set themselves on fire to stop the removal action.

This led to a scuffle between family members and officials, and during the ruckus a fire broke out and the entire house was gutted.

There were four people inside the house at the time when the fire broke out, the exact cause of which was not clear.

"Two of them were killed, while others sustained burn injuries," officials said. Though the exact reason behind the fire was not clear, the victim family accused officials and anti-social elements of the area of deliberately setting their house on fire. Kanpur Police in an official note said that on the basis of the complaint by the victims' family, a case has been registered against more than 12 people including SDM, SO, and Lekhpal.

Four locals, identified as Ashok Dixit, Anil Dixit, Nirmal Dixit, and Vishal Dixit have also been named in the FIR.

"There was a complaint lodged against Vishal Dixit (one of the accused named in the FIR) that he was trying to encroach upon the land belonging to village community. In connection with this, the administrative team reached the area to remove encroachment where the incident occured," the police said.

Further investigation in the matter is underway.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)