Gonda,

05 Aug (HS): A 22-year-old newlywed man was reportedly beaten to death over a

Rs 200 debt issue, prompting protests from family members who left his body on

the Gonda-Lucknow highway, police said on Tuesday. Hriday Lal, a mason from

Laxmanpur Jaat village, died after lending Rs 700 to a villager named Ram Anuj.

On August 1, a furious quarrel broke out between them when Lal wanted Rs 200

back. Anuj, his brother Ram Kishore, son Jagdish, and nephews Pankaj and

Chandan reportedly beat him with sticks when the quarrel escalated. Lal, who

was rushed to Lucknow for treatment, died from his injuries on Monday. When the body was carried back from Lucknow

in an ambulance on Monday evening, the family attempted to block the

Gonda-Lucknow route near Balpur by keeping the body on the road.

Police

from four local police stations intervened, removed the barrier with little

force, and ensured the body was transported to the community. Initially, the

family refused to perform the final rites, demanding harsh punishment and

'bulldozer action' on the accused's homes.

The

cremation was ultimately carried out late Monday night under police supervision,

according to Kotwali Dehat Station House Officer Sanjay Kumar Singh, who also

stated that all listed culprits had been arrested and booked under relevant BNS

provisions.

A

postmortem was done in Lucknow, and further legal action will be taken

depending on the result, he added. A police force has been dispatched in the

area to keep the calm. Lal married only a month ago, according to his family

members.

Hindusthan Samachar / Abhishek Awasthi