Panipat: On 23 August, unable to find adequate work at his hometown, twenty-eight-year-old Akhlaq, a barber by profession, left his home in Nanauta, 23 kilometres from Saharanpur for Panipat, Haryana.
“We are left with no work due to the lockdown. Our financial condition is worse,” Ikram, brother of Akhlaq told TwoCircles.net.
According to Ikram, as Akhlaq reached Panipat, he sat down to rest for a few minutes in the Kishanpura area. “Two men came and asked his name. As soon as they heard his name they started beating him. After which Akhlaq was left on the road in the injured condition,” Ikram said.
As per Ikram, Akhlaq was feeling thirsty and he knocked on the nearest door to him and asked for water. “But to his surprise, the men in the house dragged him inside and started beating him with wooden sticks. He realized they were the same men who were beating him minutes earlier,” Ikram added.
“There were four men and 2 women in the house,” Akhlaq told his brother Ikram.
“As they saw 786 written on Akhlaq’s hand, they told him we won’t let this be written on your hand and they cut off his right hand with a chainsaw (a machine used to cut heavy logs of wood),” says Ikram.
“He was beaten so badly that he has injuries on every part of his body,” he added.
Ikram said his brother got the numbers 786 tattooed when he was just 15 years old. “We believe in 786. We believe in Allah,” he added.
Around 5 am, Akhlaq returned to his senses when he found himself lying at a railway station.
Ikram said that he came to know about the incident when an unknown person called him from Panipat. “Akhlaq was taken to the railway station and was thrown on the railway track to portray as if he got injuries in a train accident,” he told.
He was then taken to Panipat Hospital. By the time Ikram arrived at the hospital, S.I Balvaan of GRP Police station was already present.
Ikram said that SI told him it’s an accident case. “But seeing his injuries, I waited for him to become stable and asked him about it,” Ikram said.
“The police seem to have already decided to dismiss the case by calling it an accident,” says Ikram.
Akhlaq told his brother about the locality where he was beaten and described the house. Intending to know about the people who had severely beaten his brother, Ikram went to the place and enquired and he came to know that the assailants are from Saini community.
According to Ikram, S.I Balvaan called them to the police station but let them go. An FIR has been lodged at Thana Chandni Bagh in Panipat.
“This is a case of kattarpanthi, they cut off his hand because 786 was written on his hand,” Ikram says in anger.
Akhlaq was later referred to Rohtak hospital, where he says they were asked to leave. Ikram is now getting treatment at Nanauta.
Ikram wants justice for his brother and is worried because no one has been arrested till date.
When contacted for comment, S.I Balvaan told TwoCircles.net that the case has been transferred to Chandi Bagh police station and they will investigate it further.
This story first appeared in ‘Two Circles’ on September 10, 2020 here.
