By Omar Rashid
New Delhi: Two weeks after a 24-year-old Muslim man was brutally thrashed, allegedly by a group of kanwariyas, following a road accident in Uttar Pradesh’s Hapur, police have arrested five persons. The victim succumbed to his injuries on August 4.
The police have also recovered the murder weapon – a danda or wooden stick – from one of the arrested accused, a police officer told The Wire. The stick was recovered based on the disclosure of accused person Daksh.
Azeem, who was originally a resident of Moradabad, died at a Delhi hospital, four days after he was beaten, allegedly by a group of men who were kanwariyas, in Hapur. He leaves behind a wife, an infant son, and an ailing father who has been bedridden for over a year.
Azeem was driving a mini truck to his workplace in the National Capital Region when in the early hours of July 31, the vehicle collided with a parked auto-rickshaw near the Shiva Dhaba, ahead of the Brijghat Toll Plaza in Hapur district.
Hapur police in a statement said that the driver of the auto, Farman, was seriously injured after Azeem “negligently rammed” his ‘chhota hathi’ mini truck into the auto-rickshaw. Following this, Farman’s associates, who had booked the auto to travel to the Ganga river to fetch kanwad water, brutally assaulted Azeem. Seriously injured, he was rushed to a local nursing home in Garhmukteshwar, shifted to SS Hospital in Meerut in a comatose state, and later transferred to Delhi, where he ultimately succumbed to his injuries in August 4 without ever regaining consciousness.
‘Manish Sisodiya, Shivam, Lokesh, Ankit and Daksh’
Station House Officer of Garhmukteshwar police station Devendra Singh told The Wire on August 15 that they had arrested five persons for Azeem’s murder. Those arrested were identified as Manish Sisodiya, Shivam, Lokesh, Ankit and Daksh. The first four were named in the First Information Report filed in the matter by Azeem’s father Intezar. Daksh was identified during investigation, said police.
It was SHO Singh who said that the danda used in assaulting Azeem was recovered from Daksh.
The SHO said that there were no more arrests to be made in the case. Along with the alleged kanwariyas, the driver of the auto Farman (aged 19) was also named in the FIR. He is still receiving treatment after having been injured in the accident.
There were two FIRs lodged in the matter. The first one was by Azeem’s father Intezar against the auto driver and the kanwariyas for assaulting his son. The second FIR was lodged against Azeem on the complaint of Farman’s father Imran.
This story was originally published in thewire.in. Read the full story here.