Constable’s murder: Nahal residents terrified after police raids

Around 70% of the village residents vacated by Tuesday, but the situation of those staying behind remained tense, locals said

Ghaziabad

The village is located about three kilometres from National Highway 9, alongside the Upper Ganga Canal, and falls under the jurisdiction of the Masuri police station. (Sakib Ali/HT Photo)

A week after a Noida police constable was shot dead during a raid in Ghaziabad’s Nahal village, the arrest tally has risen to 14. But according to residents, at least 50 to 60 more men have been picked up or detained in sweeping midnight raids that have left the village nearly deserted and families on edge.

Around 70% of the village residents vacated by Tuesday, but the situation of those staying behind remained tense, locals said, adding that the village has heavy police presence and their property has been damaged by police in late-night raids.

Forty-five-year-old Nazreen, standing beside a half-broken portion of her house’s main door, blamed police for the damage, alleging a group of policemen forcefully entered her residence and conducted a raid late Monday.

“It was the second night after the murder. Dozens of policemen barged in well past midnight, broke the door, and stormed the house looking for my sons,” she said. “They live and work at a mill. They’ve been there for 10 days. I kept telling the police, but they searched the whole house.”

Locals claimed that at least 50—mostly men aged between 20 and 35—men were picked up on suspicionbut have yet to return or be officially acknowledged as arrested.

“Overall, we called about 50-60 persons for questioning. Thirteen were formally arrested, while Qadir was already arrested. Others were allowed to go. We are carefully investigating the case based on evidence,” said Surendra Nath Tiwary, deputy commissioner of Ghaziabad police (rural).

Noida police constable Saurabh Kumar was shot dead on Sunday night by unidentified people in a mob, when a group of seven officers were visiting the village to arrest one Qadir, an accused in a case of a music system and ECM theft from a car on the intervening night of May 2 and 3 in Noida. The Noida police registered an FIR for theft on May 21 against unidentified persons at the Phase 3 police station and conducted a raid around 11pm on May 25.

Nazreen said that the policemen, besides breaking the main door of the house, damaged a big mirror, a washing machine, and a desert cooler. “They stayed in my house for about half-an-hour and kept questioning my family. I told them that they should look for the actual person who shot the constable, and spare innocent people. Ever since, I have been using a charpoi to cover the main door to keep my house shut,” she said.

Forty-year-old Munni, who stays near Nazreen’s house, said a group of over 30 policemen raided her house in the night as well. “They were banging on the door, and when we did not open, they broke it open. They detained my husband, Nazar Mohammad and my brother-in-law’s son, Sultan. They were asking if there were more men in the house. They also broke water taps with their lathis.”

“For the past three days, we cooked nothing. The whereabouts of my husband and my nephew are still unknown. We heard that they were kept in Modinagar’s Niwari. My husband is a daily wage worker. Now, I am left with only my minor daughter and my mother-in-law in the house,” Munni said.

She said her three sons were spared as they worked outstation, at Rishikesh and Dadri.

Police, however, denied the allegations. DCP Tiwary said: “Claims that police resorted to damage to the houses are baseless and such allegations are false. No such thing happened.”

The village is located about three kilometres from National Highway 9, alongside the Upper Ganga Canal, and falls under the jurisdiction of the Masuri police station.

Discrepancies in police versions

The raid by Noida police in Ghaziabad and the subsequent death of the constable have exposed a lack of coordination between the Gautam Budh Nagar and Ghaziabad police.

The versions provided by the police also point to differing sequences of events that took place during the raid.

The FIR lodged by Noida police at Masuri police station in Ghaziabad on Monday was registered under multiple stringent sections of the BNS, including murder, attempt to murder, rioting, assault on a public servant, and criminal conspiracy, along with provisions of the Criminal Law (Amendment) Act. It named Qadir, his brother, and unidentified others as accused.

The Noida police also said in the FIR that they were twice attacked and fired upon indiscriminately by the mob in Nahal. However, Ghaziabad police said there was no evidence to prove the same.

Maintaining that the Noida police failed to inform them in advance about the raid, Ghaziabad police said the investigation so far did not show there was indiscriminate firing. They maintained that only one bullet casing was found at the scene of the incident.

“All the 14 suspects were booked as they were part of the mob, as indicated in the CCTV videos. As of now, we have sent them to jail under the sections mentioned in the murder FIR lodged by the Noida police. The role of each suspect will be identified during the investigation, and the final sections imposed on each of them will be ascertained in the charge sheet,” DCP Tiwary said.