On 25th October, National Spokesperson of the Indian National Congress, Dr Shama Mohamed, claimed on social media platform X that “upper-caste goons” brutally beat up a 17-year-old Dalit boy, Aniket, in Greater Noida, Uttar Pradesh, on his birthday. The victim succumbed to his injuries at the hospital while receiving treatment on 24th October. She wrote, “Every week or two, we see reports of Dalits being killed in BJP-ruled Uttar Pradesh. Narendra Modi and his double-engine governments have completely failed to protect the lives of Dalits.”

Congress was not the only one to push the “Dalit vs Upper Caste” narrative in the matter. While the Samajwadi Party’s media cell claimed the accused were from the “Thakur” community, Bhim Army chief used the term “dabang” to run a similar narrative.

In a post on X, the Samajwadi Party’s media cell wrote, “A few days ago, in Noida, a Dalit boy was brutally attacked and severely beaten by boys from the dominant Thakur caste in UP, and now that Dalit boy has died. His family is crying out in grief and despair.” Interestingly, the screenshots of news reports shared in the post did not mention “Thakur”.

Bhim Army chief Chandra Shekhar Azad called them “Jatankwadi”.

While Shama Mohamed and others claimed the “upper-caste goons” or “Thakurs” assaulted Aniket, in reality, the accused belong to the Meena community, which is categorised as a Scheduled Tribe, not “upper caste.”

What the FIR says

OpIndia accessed the FIR registered in the matter. The FIR was registered on 17th October, two days after the incident, based on the complaint of the victim’s uncle, Momchand, under Sections 191(2), 190, 115(2), 352, 109 and 309(4) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and Sections 3(1)(d) and 3(1)(dh) of the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act. As the victim has died, Section 103(2) of the BNS (murder) has been added.

The FIR is registered against seven named accused and 10–12 unidentified individuals. The names of the accused, according to the complaint, are Yuvraj, Jeetu, Rachit, Bharat, Anjit, Pawan and Sunit. All of the accused are residents of the same locality and belong to the Meena community, however, the FIR does not explicitly mention it. The accused’s caste details were revealed by the police in a statement.

According to the complainant, his younger brother Sumit had gone with his nephew Aniket and his friends Rajkaran and Shiva to celebrate Aniket’s birthday near Syed Pokar. They were standing on the 20-foot road when a boy named Asif came, saw them and left without saying anything.

A short while later, Yuvraj, the main accused, Jeetu, Rachit, Bharat, Ankit, Pawan, Sunit and 10–12 others arrived carrying sticks and iron rods. They began hurling abuses and casteist slurs at his brother and Aniket. They called them “Chamar” and “Dhed” and said, “We will show you your place”, before attacking them.

Sumit sustained injuries to his head and Aniket was brutally beaten. Both of them were thrown into nearby bushes. Aniket was unconscious at that time. Shiva and one other person present managed to escape from the attack and saved their lives. Later, they searched for Aniket for an hour and found him lying unconscious in the bushes.

Later, when Aniket and Sumit were rushed to the hospital, it was found that Aniket had deep head wounds at three to four places. Aniket was admitted to the hospital in critical condition.

During the assault, the accused reportedly snatched a gold chain from Sumit and took his iPhone. The complainant mentioned that the accused had beaten up Aniket a few days back as well and threatened to kill him.

Sumit was discharged from the hospital two days after the incident. However, Aniket continued to fight for his life. On 24th October, Aniket succumbed to his injuries at the hospital.

Several individuals arrested by the police

On 19th October, police arrested Yuvraj Meena and Jitu Meera, two days after the FIR was registered. Four teams were formed to apprehend the remaining accused. Rachit and Ankit were arrested later on 24th October. Further search for the remaining accused is underway.

According to the police, 17-year-old Aniket Jatav was beaten up on 15th October and he died on 24th October. The accused belonged to the Meena community, the police confirmed.

“We had earlier arrested two accused on 19th October, Yuvraj Meena and Jitu Meena, who were residents of the same area, and sent them to jail. Four teams have been formed to quickly arrest the remaining accused,” the Noida Police said in a statement.

Speaking to the media, Assistant Commissioner of Police, Greater Noida 4, Sarthak Sengar, said that the victims and accused had previous altercations and the reason for the same is still unclear. He said, “They were young boys and it was not the first time that they had arguments.”

pic.twitter.com/gxKcNbESGp

— POLICE COMMISSIONERATE GAUTAM BUDDH NAGAR (@noidapolice) October 25, 2025

ACP Sengar added that following the altercation, the victim was admitted to the hospital with severe injuries and was recovering. However, on 23rd October, his health deteriorated and he succumbed to the injuries on the morning of 24th October.

Political response to the incident

Following the incident, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA from Jewar, Dhirendra Singh, visited the family. He also briefed Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath about the incident. When Dhirendra Singh went to meet the family, CM Yogi talked to them over the phone and assured justice.

रबूपुरा के अनिकेत प्रकरण में दोषियों पर सख्त कार्रवाई होगी। मेरी सांत्वना पीड़ित परिवार के साथ हैं। मौके पर पीड़ित के घर जाकर परिवार को ढांढस बंधाया और प्रदेश के माननीय मुख्यमंत्री श्री @myogiadityanath जी से फ़ोन पर वार्ता भी कराई। #MLAJewar pic.twitter.com/jqeMoukvrW

— Dhirendra Singh (@DhirendraGBN) October 24, 2025

Local BSP and Samajwadi Party leaders also met the family and promised their support.

The accused were not from the upper caste, as propagated by opposition parties

While political parties and activists rushed to frame the incident as another “Dalit versus upper caste” crime, police records and statements reveal a different reality. The accused in the case belong to the Meena community, which falls under the Scheduled Tribe category, not an upper-caste group as claimed by Congress, the Samajwadi Party and the Bhim Army. The narrative pushed online therefore appears to be politically motivated and factually incorrect, aimed at fuelling caste-based outrage rather than reflecting the facts of the case.