NEW DELHI, Mar 10: Three persons have been arrested after a man from a minority community was allegedly beaten to death by a mob over suspicion of him carrying beef in Saran district of Bihar, the police said on Friday. The police is on the lookout for another person reported to be absconding.
The police said the incident took place on March 7. The deceased was identified as Naseem Qureshi, a resident of Hasanpura village in Siwan district. His nephew Firoz Ahmed Qureshi, who was at the spot when the incident happened, ran away from the attackers. It is learnt that Naseem and Firoz were on their way to meet some acquaintances at Jogia village when a mob of youth intercepted them near a mosque.
“While entering the village on our moped we saw the village sarpanch and a few youth alongside him. The sarpanch told the youths that we were carrying beef and asked them to beat us,” Firoz told the media. He added that he ran off to save his life though some youth chased him. “However, my uncle Naseem was caught and beaten up with bricks and lathi (wooden sticks),” Firoz said. He added that the doctors at Siwan sadar (town) hospital told him that Naseem had been referred to Patna and that he died on the way.
At Hasanpura, Naseem’s family has demanded justice and assurance from the district administration that such an incident would never happen again. “We are also human beings and free to follow our religion and use things that are allowed in our rituals,” Firoz said. Naseem’s younger brother Ashraf accused the policemen of Rasoolpur and Daraunda police stations of the district for “cover-up and negligence”, which led to the death of his brother.
Meanwhile, Superintendent of Police, Siwan, Gaurav Mangla said, “Whether the victim was carrying beef or something else is a matter of investigation. Three persons – the sarpanch Sushil Singh, Ujjawal Sharma and Ravi Sah – have been arrested in the case while a manhunt is launched to arrest another suspect.”
An FIR has been registered in the case under Indian Penal Code (IPC) Sections 302 (murder), 34 (acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention) and 379 (theft), the police said, adding that “a sum of ₹2,500 that Naseem had been carrying, too, was missing.”
(Manas Dasgupta)