Palwal, Haryana: Ten days after a truck driver from Haryana’s Nuh was killed in a brush with cow vigilantes in Rajasthan’s Bhiwadi, the postmortem report has confirmed he died due from a gunshot wound and not stone-pelting injuries as the police had earlier claimed.
At their relatives’ home in Haryana’s Palwal, the family of Aamir, 28, told ThePrint that the PM report had confirmed their suspicions, adding that they had even been sourcing CCTV footage to prove the Rajasthan Police’s initial theory wrong. They claim that Aamir was at the wrong place at the wrong time, and was mistaken for a cow smuggler.
Deputy Superintendent of Police (Bhiwadi) Kailash Chaudhary told ThePrint Wednesday that the incident occurred around 5 am on 2 March, when a group of cow vigilantes intercepted two vehicles they believed were escorting a third vehicle smuggling cattle from Rewari.
“The gau rakshaks were told (by their superiors) to intercept the two vehicles providing protection to cow smugglers. During the high-speed chase, there was stone-pelting (between the two groups), and a man was injured. Aamir was killed in the clash. Earlier, it seemed he died because of stone-pelting, but now, the post-mortem has revealed he was shot dead,” Chaudhary told ThePrint.
In Palwal’s Utawad village, Aamir’s loved ones await justice as they mourn with relatives. The truck driver left behind a pregnant wife and a two-year-old daughter.
DSP Chaudhary said Aamir was allegedly with a group of suspected cattle smugglers. He said stones were recovered from his vegetable truck, while five cattle were seized from another vehicle. Stones were also recovered from the third camper vehicle, police added.
Counter-FIRs have been registered at Bhiwadi’s Chaupanki police station.
In the first one, Aamir’s family alleges that he was shot dead by a group of Bajrang Dal members. The FIR has been registered under sections pertaining to murder, but nobody has been named.
The second FIR has been lodged against unidentified persons under sections related to cattle smuggling, illegal liquor, and animal cruelty.
The DSP confirmed the arrest of one Chhuttan, who was allegedly with Aamir in his truck, in connection with the second FIR.
No arrests have been made in connection with the FIR lodged on the complaint of Aamir’s family. “We have identified individuals involved in the killing of Aamir. Arrests will soon be made,” said DSP Chaudhary.
‘He told me he’ll come back’
Aamir’s family has denied the Rajasthan police’s initial version of what happened on the day. Aamir’s mother, Shabra, said she saw him leave without even completing Sehri on 2 March.
“He told me that he has to pick up a second driver from Sarekala Village. He had to take the truck to Azadpur Mandi in Delhi. I told him to complete Sehri, and then go, but he told me he’ll come back,” Shabra told ThePrint, sobbing.
Hours after Aamir left, his uncle Mohammad Zubair, a truck driver himself, received a call from the Bhiwadi hospital, with the caller telling him that the 28-year-old had been brought to the hospital. The family rushed to Bhiwadi.
“When I saw Aamir, he had blood all over his face, and a gunshot injury on his forehead. I told the police that he was shot dead, but the police told me he was killed in stone-pelting,” Zubair told ThePrint.
The family claims the Rajasthan Police have conducted a shoddy investigation, therefore they have been meeting with locals to try and identify those who killed Aamir.
They collected a series of CCTV footage that purportedly show how Aamir was killed.
“We got to know that there were some clashes between a group of cow vigilantes and cow smugglers, and the cow smugglers fled the spot. Aamir and his friend were waiting for the driver near a mosque when the cow vigilantes came and attacked them. They mistook Aamir for the cow smuggler,” Zubair said.
Bajrang Dal’s denial
Mohammad Zubair says, in most villages, there is no police presence, no police van in sight, which allows cow vigilantes to chase truck drivers. The family said members of Bajrang Dal were involved as cow vigilantes.
However, Rajasthan National Coordinator of Bajrang Dal Kishan Prajapati denied the involvement.
“No Bajrang Dal member is taught to kill people. Our job is to improve society, and not create fear in the minds of people,” he said. “For individuals who use our organisation’s name to commit such activities, legal action should be taken. Our job is seva and suraksha.”
Meanwhile, on the allegation of lack of police presence, DSP Chaudhary said, “The route taken by cow smugglers isn’t through main roads. It is usually through low lying areas of forests, where it is difficult for police to keep watch.”
The deadly Mewat belt
In the past, similar incidents have been reported in the Mewat belt, where Muslim men employed as truck drivers were either threatened, attacked or killed by groups of cow vigilantes.
Cousins Nasir and Junaid were allegedly abducted and their charred bodies were recovered from Bhiwani, Haryana in 2023. Rakhbar Khan was attacked in the forest area in Alwar in 2018, because he and his friend were transporting a cow.
Pehlu Khan, a dairy farmer from Nuh was pulled from his truck and fatally beaten by a mob in 2017.
“Life in Mewat has become difficult for everybody,” said Wasim, 27, a truck driver, who usually works in the Mewat belt. “How are so many cases of such violence being reported, and still, no action being taken against those carrying out this kind attack?”
Arif, 37, another truck driver, said that the Mewat area has an unemployment problem, and people don’t have jobs. “People here do whatever is given to us, for meagre pay. Many Meo Muslims began working as drivers and travelling the entire country for months, just to sustain our families.”
But, Arif said, slowly the fear of driving trucks at night has become a part of their daily lives.
“Most of us have stopped driving trucks at night. We know there is a risk to our life because these cow vigilantes start following random people, they start extorting money from them, and when drivers refuse, they start attacking us,” said Arif.
“We only drive trucks and vehicles during the day. We can either lose our job, or our life.”
(Edited by Ajeet Tiwari)
Also Read: No goat or buffalo meat for biryani—Tablighi Jamaat treads with caution ahead of Nuh congregation