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2 Bahraich violence accused injured in gunfight; five held
Uttar Pradesh Police on Thursday arrested five men in connection with communal violence in Bahraich four days ago and shot two of them in an encounter.
Uttar Pradesh Police on Thursday arrested five men in connection with communal violence in Bahraich four days ago and shot two of them in an encounter, adding a dramatic twist to the case where sectarian riots led to the death of a 22-year-old man.
UP director general of police Prashant Kumar said two of the five men -- who are accused of fomenting communal tension during a Durga Puja immersion procession on Sunday and killing 22-year-old Gopal Mishra - were allegedly trying to flee to Nepal when the encounter happened. Two were injured during the encounter and three others were taken into custody, he added.
“When the police were taking the five arrested accused for weapons recovery near the India-Nepal border, the two accused tried to run away. As they tried to flee, shots were fired. Mohammed Sarfaraz and Mohammed Talib were injured. Abdul Hameed, Fahim, and Abdul Afzal were arrested. A total of five accused were arrested. The situation is under control,” he said.
The injured were undergoing treatment at Bahraich Medical College.
Police officials said the encounter took place near Handa Basehari canal on bypass road, close to the India-Nepal border.
Those arrested were identified as Mohammad Faheem, Mohammad Sarfaraz and Abdul Hameed, who are named accused in the FIR, and two others, Mohammad Taleem alias Sabloo and Mohammad Afzal, said the DGP.
Violence and arson rocked Bahraich district in Uttar Pradesh on Monday, a day after Mishra was shot dead and four people injured during Durga Puja idol immersion, amid allegations that the clashes were stoked by inflammatory songs during the procession in Muslim-dominated areas, stone-pelting from the houses in the locality, and a bid to take down a green flag.
Irate mobs torched vehicles and shops, and blocked roads demanding justice for Mishra, who was killed on Sunday evening when gunshots fired during an idol immersion rally.
The violence began around 4pm on Sunday, when an idol visarjan procession of a 22-year-old puja reached the Muslim-dominated area of Maharajganj, roughly 130km from Lucknow. A dispute broke out over loud and communally offensive pop songs being played by the procession triggered a dispute; one person allegedly climbed on to the roof of a building to take down a green flag and hoist a saffron one. Videos purportedly capturing the incidents went viral on social media.
“A total of five people, who are the main accused in the case, have been arrested. A short exchange of fire took place in which two people were injured. The injured are Sarfaraz and Mohammad Talib. The injured have been taken to the hospital,” said Amitabh Yash, additional director general (law and order), special task force.
Bahraich chief medical officer (CMO) Sanjay Kumar Sharma said Mishra died due to “excessive bleeding”.
“The man died of excessive bleeding due to 25-30 pellets injuries. There are some injury marks above his left eye and on the toes. Some part of the nails of both the feet is also missing,” he added.
Superintendent of police (Bahraich) Vrinda Shukla said the police took all five named accused in Mishra’s murder into custody.
Earlier in the day, Abdul Hameed’s daughter Rukhsar expressed concerns about her father and brothers Sarfaraz and Faheem being killed in an encounter. “Yesterday at 4 PM, my father, Abdul Hameed, along with my two brothers, Sarfaraz and Faheem, and another young man, were taken by the UP STF. My husband and my brother-in-law have also been picked up. We have not received any information about them from any police station, and we fear they may be killed in an encounter.”
The incident led to the Opposition attacking the Yogi Adityanath-led government. Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav termed the incident a “failure of the government”. “In Uttar Pradesh incidents are happening on a regularly, this is because of the failure of the government. In order to hide its failure, the government is doing encounters,” he said. “If law and order would have been improving because of encounters, then UP would have been doing better than other states in many things.”
Uttar Pradesh Congress Committee Chief Ajay Rai also slammed the government, saying the encounter was an attempt to “hide its failures”. “This is totally fake encounter; the government wants to hide its failures,” he said. “The government keeps on talking on zero tolerance and saying that no riots took place but in reality, they want to hide their failures by such fake encounters.”
