The husband of a Dalit village panchayat chief was allegedly beaten up and set on fire in Amethi on Thursday evening.

Arjun Kori, 50, husband of Bandoiya village panchayat chief Chotka Devi, was rushed to Sultanpur District Hospital and later referred to the trauma centre of Lucknow’s King George Medical University. He died on the way.

Superintendent of police Dinesh Singh said the family members of the victim had filed an FIR against a person called K.K. Tiwari and four others.

“We are investigating the case and the guilty would be arrested soon,” Singh said.

Chotka Devi said Tiwari and his goons were forcing her and her husband to give him kickbacks from the development fund.

“They were not ready to listen to our plea that the fund is released by senior officers and monitored by them. We are not in a position to siphon off money from it. However, these people thought we were secretly making money. They called my husband on Thursday to discuss something. Later, some villagers told us that he was beaten up and set on fire,” the panchayat pradhan said.

Surendra Kori, the son of the victim, accused police of inaction.

“We had registered a complaint with the police a few months ago that some affluent villagers were threatening to kill the entire family if we didn’t pay them a monthly amount from the development fund. But no action was taken at that time,” he said.

“The seat is reserved for the Scheduled Castes. Usually, the affluent villagers field Dalits on this seat and ensure their victory. They control everything once their candidate wins. But in our case, my parents resisted any misuse of their power,” Surendra added.