A 50-year-old man named Mohammed Saleem, a resident of Shadi ki Madaiyan, Rampur district of Uttar Pradesh consumed poison along with his two children aged eight and six on Friday after administration sleuths arbitrarily informed him his house would be demolished.
The man and his daughter died on Saturday morning however, his son survived and is admitted to a local hospital.
The tragic incident took place after revenue officials allegedly visited Saleem’s house and told him that his house would be bulldozed as it was allegedly built on government land.
The deceased was working at a tyre repair shop in his locality.
According to the locals, in 2016, Saleem purchased land for Rs 1,90,00 and built a house on it.
According to a report published in The Times of India, the land he purchased, used to be part of a dried-up pond.
Notably, 20 other people had purchased land next to Saleem which is part of the dried-up pond. They were unaware that the land was given on lease to the seller by the revenue department.
“In 2021, Saleem along with 20 people were served legal notices by the court of tehsildar in which they were asked that their houses have encroached on Garam Samaj land, however, the case related it is still pending in court and no further order was delivered as yet,” Sub-divisional Magistrate Nirankar Singh was quoted by TOI.
As per a TOI report, Mehtab Jahan, wife of Saleem, claimed that several officials visited their house and told her husband that their house would be demolished soon as per court order.
She further alleged that previously they had received a notice from the tehsildar court demanding them a ransom of Rs 64 lakh.
“I have lost my daughter and husband. I want justice from the government,” she said.
Relative of Saleem alleged that, on Thursday, the revenue officials took Saleem’s thumbprint on some documents however, the officials are denying it now.
“As Saleem is not a reader, they took his thumbprint on some documents, nothing of which he understood,” said a relative.
