By Neetika Jha
An eerie silence enveloped the lanes of the Nahal village in Ghaziabad on a dusty Thursday afternoon. With iron padlocks hanging outside the main doors and windows sealed, dozens of houses wore a deserted look. Only two medical shops were open in one of the lanes where the attendants spoke in hushed tones, often glancing at the road where the patrolling police teams took rounds.
Located about 14 kilometres from the Delhi-Ghaziabad Highway, the village is not too far from the Masoori Lake, a popular spot in the area. The village on Sunday night witnessed the killing of Constable Saurabh Kumar, 26, when a police party from Noida’s Phase 3 police station came under fire during a raid to arrest Qadir, a 22-year-old wanted history sheeter. While Qadir was arrested, police said his aides had shot at the team. Following Kumar’s death, Ghaziabad Police registered an FIR against Qadir, his brother, and several other people for rioting, assaulting a public servant, and on charges of murder.
Since Sunday, at least 14 persons have been apprehended and 42 have been taken into preventive custody over the firing incident. On Monday, five people were arrested, including Nanhu and Abdul Salam, who were shot in the legs during the encounter. Another accused, Abdul Rehman, was arrested on Tuesday. Wanted in a murder case, Rehman too was shot in the leg during an encounter.
“About 400 families have left their houses. They are arresting anyone they want to. So many people have gone to their relatives’ houses,” alleged a medical shop owner.
“There are around 10,000 people living in Nahal,” said Gram Pradhan Tasavvar Ali. “Of them, 95% are Muslims and rest belong to the scheduled caste. I don’t know what to do, I spoke to the District Magistrate about it, I am trying to figure out a way out,” he said.
“People are scared. They are leaving, we do not know who can be arrested,” he added.Babu Khan, 65, said around 35 policemen broke into his house while they were sleeping. The glass of the windows was broken, and their iron gate was damaged. “I was sleeping on the terrace when both my daughter-in-laws came running to me last night,” said Khan, who is paralysed in his left leg. “I was walking down from the stairs slowly when I saw them. I asked them what had happened. They told me that we are respecting my old age and pushed me aside and asked me to keep quiet,” said Khan.
This story was originally published in indianexpress.com. Read the full story here.