– Sahar Khan
Raipur, June 10: To probe into the alleged mob lynching of two members of a minority community at Arang, the Raipur police has constituted a 14-member Special Investigation Team (SIT) led by additional SP (Raipur-rural) Kirtan Rathore.
Two youths Chand Miyan, 24, and Guddu Khan, 35, were killed during the wee hours of Friday when they were on their way to Odisha’s Sambalpur market from Mahasamund in Chhattisgarh, transporting buffaloes on a truck.
Will the SIT likely end up just as an eyewash as the police don’t seem to be genuinely proactive in actions to nab the culprits? No arrest has been made so far following the incident. Even after three days, the police are yet to reach the owner of the vehicle used for transportation to inquire into the incident.
A third person, Saddam Qureshi with critical injuries has been admitted to the hospital in Raipur. The two killed hailed from Saharanpur in Uttar Pradesh. The mob, believed to be cow vigilantes, chased them on suspicion of cattle smuggling and intercepted them near Mahanadi bridge on the inter-district borders of Mahasamund-Raipur.
Meanwhile, a Raipur-based social activist Kunal Shukla has lodged a complaint to the Chief Justice of India seeking his intervention into the incident.
“I have also requested the CJI to consider my complaint as a petition. There is a strong apprehension that the poor victims may not get a fair probe under the Chhattisgarh government and the police administration. Some accused were initially detained after the incident but later released. It’s a serious issue. Were they allowed to go without proper inquiry under the pressure on the police from the former BJP minister Rajesh Munat?” the activist asked.
Various minority groups in Raipur too stated that such an incident is very shocking as no civilians can be given a license to kill anyone and take law into their hands.
According to the lone survivor Qureshi who accompanied the deceased and the relatives of the victims, around a dozen people attacked the trio at Mahanadi bridge. In a video that has gone viral, Qureshi was heard responding that the two with whom he was onboard the vehicle were beaten to death and he jumped off from the bridge to save his life.
“Based on the short post-mortem report and initial probe, the case has been registered under various IPC Sections 304 (culpable homicide), 307 (attempt to murder), 34 (acts by several persons serving common intention) against unidentified persons. The case is being thoroughly investigated on every minor detail by the SIT team. CCTV footage of the area is being scanned,” a police officer said.
