Bhopal: Nearly two weeks after being brutally thrashed by cow vigilantes over allegations of smuggling, a 21-year old man identified as Junaid Shehzad succumbed to his injuries in the early hours of Tuesday, while another man, Arman, battles for his life at Bhopal’s Hamidia Hospital.
Junaid and Arman were “smuggling cows” on 5 June, when they were “caught and beaten up” near Mehgaon village, Sanchi in Raisen district, said Raisen Superintendent of Police Pankaj Pandey.
“We had booked the two for cow smuggling, while three other men (who beat them up) were booked for attempted murder on 9 June. In our investigation as of now, it has not come to light if the three arrested so far have any affiliation with Bajrang Dal,” Pandey told ThePrint. “We are now waiting for Junaid’s postmortem report. Once it is received, murder charges will be invoked.”
Junaid had been booked in two other cases of cow smuggling in the past, Pandey added.
Arman runs a dairy, while Junaid dealt in cattle, according to the former’s father, Zaffaruddin. Junaid, who hailed from Sironj in Vidisha, had been living in Bhopal and did odd jobs to make a living. Junaid’s cousin Maaz said that he ran a dairy in Sironj.
In his statement to Sanchi Police after the incident, Junaid had said, “On 5 June, around 2.30 am, Arman and I were in Vidisha’s Dhanora village. There, we loaded his jeep with cattle, and were returning to Bhopal. When we were crossing the school on Vidisha-Kaudi Road near Mehgaon, around 10-15 people overtook our vehicle and stopped us.”
The statement further read, “These people began hurling abuses at us, some of them were also carrying sticks in their vehicles. They removed the sticks, and pulled Arman and me out of our vehicle, accused us of smuggling cows and threatened to kill us.”
Junaid had added that the mob filmed the act as he and Arman were brutally thrashed with sticks. The group then allegedly put them back in their jeep and took them to the police station, from where the two were first taken to the local hospital before finally being sent to Vidisha Medical College. Video clips of the two being beaten up were widely circulated on social media platforms.
Based on Junaid’s statement, an FIR was registered on 9 June under Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita sections 126 (2) (wrongful restraint), 296 (B) (disturbing religious assembly), 115 (2) (voluntarily causing hurt), and 109 (3) & (5) (attempt to murder). Three men, identified as Dhruv Chaturvedi, Gagan Dubey and Rampal Rajput, were arrested the same day.
Even as a large group of people can be seen thrashing Junaid and Arman in the video clips, besides Junaid’s statement referring to a “mob”, the police have said that just those three accused were allegedly involved.
Junaid’s cousin Maaz Qureshi told ThePrint, “When I spoke to Junaid, he told me that it was Bajrang Dal men who caught them and beat them up all night. He was transporting six cows for his dairy that he ran in Sironj. If someone is into cow smuggling, why would they only have six cows to ferry?”
Maaz added that Junaid had purchased those cows from a local mandi, and got delayed there, which is why they were travelling that late. He said that he was not aware of any past records against Junaid.
Zaffaruddin told ThePrint, “My son Arman collected milk and has a dairy. On 5 June, he had gone with Junaid, who dealt in cattle, when the two were attacked. I only learnt about it around 5 am. When we reached Vidisha Medical College, the doctor told us that they were brought there around 5 am. We don’t know what the police did between 2.30 am and 5 am.”
While Junaid succumbed to his injuries around 5 am Tuesday, Arman has suffered critical injuries to his head, he further said. “The doctor has told us that his kidneys are shutting down. It is just like how Junaid’s body began shutting down.”
(Edited by Mannat Chugh)
Madhya Pradesh must enforce the anti-cow smuggling and anti-cow slaughter laws effectively. Strict enforcement of the law is required to deal with such criminals.