Gurugram: Maulana Saad, 22, was supposed to board a train home Tuesday afternoon. But his family will never get to see him again. The naib imam of the Anjuman Jama Masjid in Gurugram’s Sector 57, Saad was brutally thrashed, and stabbed to death amid chants of ‘Jai Shree Ram’, say eyewitnesses.
It was past midnight when a mob of 90-100 Hindu vigilantes allegedly entered the mosque, set it ablaze, and killed him. Khurshid Alam, a caretaker of the mosque, was also injured and is undergoing treatment at a private hospital.
Later in the day, multiple establishments belonging to Muslims in Gurugram’s Badshahpur — meat shops, hotels, and junk dealers’ shops — were set ablaze. Witnesses told ThePrint these were strategically targeted to rob Muslims of their livelihoods, and identified through their names on the hoardings. Nearby shops belonging to people from the Hindu community were left alone, they say.
All of this happened a day after communal clashes broke out at a religious procession in Nuh district, organised by Hindu groups Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) and Matra Shakti Durga Vahini. The clashes left 2 home guards dead and 15 more injured. On the intervening night of Monday and Tuesday, three more people, including Maulana Saad, were killed in violence.
According to the Gurugram police, a PCR call was received around 12.15 am Tuesday. The caller said that a mosque had been set on fire and two people had been attacked. The mob consisted of 90-100 men.
A First Information Report (FIR) — seen by ThePrint — was lodged under IPC sections for charges including rioting, murder and attempt to murder at the Sector 56 police station, on the basis of a complaint by Assistant Sub-Inspector Inder Singh, who was present at the spot. There was no official confirmation on whether any arrests have been made.
It was not immediately clear whether an FIR had been registered in connection with the Badshahpur violence.
Deputy Commissioner of Police (East Gurugram) Nitish Agarwal told mediapersons earlier in the day that some accused have been identified in connection with the mosque incident, but arrests are yet to be made. ThePrint has reached him via calls and messages, but is yet to receive a response.
According to the official statement of the Gurugram Police, raids were being conducted in search of the attackers, security around religious places had been strengthened, and the police and administration were holding meetings with prominent members of the community to ensure peace. Internet services have been suspended in Sohna, Pataudi and Manesar. Sale of loose petrol and diesel has been banned by the state government.
ThePrint visited both the areas in Gurugram where violence took place Tuesday — Sector 57 and Badshahpur. The atmosphere of fear and tension were palpable in the aftermath of the violence.
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‘What happened at Nuh can’t be forgiven’
“They ran away last night itself. They were warned by people here that they won’t be spared after what happened in Nuh,” says Deepak Kumar, who runs a tiny paan shop near a hotel that was set ablaze in Badshahpur.
The hotel belonged to a man called Haroon. “We have been neighbours for a while. However, after what happened in Nuh, I don’t think Muslims should be spared. They harmed and tortured the people in the yatra,” Kumar says, adding that he shut his shop and watched the mob set the hotel on fire.
A group of young men are standing next to one Kamil Khan’s meat shop, which too was burnt to the ground. They discuss how their lives were spared because of warnings, and show each other news reports of the violence in the mosque.
“That maulana was killed last night. There are chances there will be more violence,” says one, identifying himself as Sanjay Nirala. Rahul, his friend adds, “There have been tensions between both communities for a long time but what happened in Nuh can’t be forgiven.”
“He (Kamil Khan) ran away home last night itself, to Mewat,” says Rahul, chuckling.
‘Armed, faces covered’
The FIR lodged in connection with the attack on the mosque in Sector 57 says: “At 12.15 am, a group of 90-100 men gathered outside the mosque and surrounded it from all sides with lathis and weapons. Some of them had covered their face with masks. They had lathis, sticks and weapons in their hands. They chanted Jai Shree Ram and surrounded the mosque.”
When the police as well as some members of the Muslim community tried to put out the blaze, some entered the mosque and opened fire inside, it added.
The FIR also mentions the names of six people who were spotted in the crowd. However, it isn’t clear if they were part of the mob.
‘He never spoke against any religion’
On Tuesday afternoon, an Urdu teacher, waited outside the mortuary to collect the body of his younger brother Saad, and take it to their hometown in Bihar’s Sitamarhi. Fourth among seven siblings, Saad had moved to Gurugram only two years ago and had been working at the mosque for the last seven months.
Showing his ticket on the phone, Anwar sobbed as he said, “I last spoke to him last night around 11.30 pm and told him not to go out anywhere. I told him it’s not safe and asked him not to board the train but he told me not to worry. Around 12.30 am, I saw him dead.”
He alleged that the mob comprised of local residents from the neighbouring Tigra village.
“He had only come here to do what he had learnt as a child. He never spoke against any religion. How can they just kill someone just like that because he works in a masjid? I haven’t informed our parents that he has died,” Anwar added. “My parents and brothers and sisters were excited that he would come home. Now all that is left of him are bones and skin.”
Police sources said that prima facie, it appears that the 22-year-old was stabbed at least 8-9 times. The post-mortem report is awaited.
Mohammed Aslam, chairperson of the Anjuman Charitable Trust, told ThePrint, “They cut naib imam’s throat. His body has been brutalised. The mob came and started firing while shouting slogans of Jai Shree Ram. Five people, Maksood, who works as a cleaner, Azhar, as security, and an elderly man called Sahbuddin were in the front office. Khurshid, the caretaker, and Saad were sleeping when the mob broke in. The other three ran away.”
(Edited by Gitanjali Das)
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