Uttar Pradesh: My son was shot dead, his killer must go same way, says head of the family gunned down in Amethi

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Ram Gopal, four members of whose family were shot down by an unknown attacker, on Friday said that his son's killer(s) must meet the same fate, PTI reported.

According to PTI, Sunil Kumar (35), a government school teacher, his wife Poonam (32) and their two daughters, Drishti (6) and Suni (1) were shot dead at their rented apartment in the Ahorwa Bhawani area in Amethi on Thursday evening.

The killer is suspected to be a man who was once accused by Poonam of harassing her, as cited by PTI.

The wipeout of the Dalit family drew authority's attention.

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath offered his condolences, while the opposition parties criticised the BJP system over the law and order in the state, PTI reported.

An initial police investigation revealed that Poonam had lodged a police complaint on August 18 against Chandan Verma in Rae Bareli under the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989, and for harassment.

"If anything happens to me or my family, Verma should be held responsible for it," she had written in the complaint, Amethi Superintendent of Police Anoop Kumar Singh said Thursday, PTI reported.

It was yet to be determined if the two cases are related, Singh added.

"The way my son has gone, they (killers) should go the same way," Ram Gopal, whose son was the sole breadwinner of the family, said on Friday.

"With my son gone, I am left with no one to take care of the house," he said. "I am over 60 years old and I have one more son, who lives separately. If he can get a job, it would be good," he appealed to the government.

Ram Gopal claimed to PTI that he is not aware of who Chandan Verma is or if he is the killer.

"I am a Harijan and I don't know what caste he is," he told PTI reporters outside the mortuary.

However, he recalled his daughter-in-law once telling him that she had lodged a police complaint against Verma.

"Had any action been taken, this would not have happened today," Ram Gopal said to PTI.

Meanwhile, a team of three doctors conducted the post-mortem of the bodies in Amethi under videography.

Gopal later took the bodies of all four to his native village, Sudamapur, in Rae Bareli's Unchahar.

Amethi police chief Anoop Kumar Singh said that five police teams have been deployed to work on this case. PTI reported.

(With inputs from PTI)