New Delhi: On September 2, a 50-year-old Muslim man named Dawood Ali Tyagi was attacked by a mob in Vinaipur in Uttar Pradesh’s Baghpat district. Around 20 men reportedly charged at Tyagi with sticks and sharp objects late at night, inflicting fatal injuries upon him. Four arrests have been made in the case so far and investigation is ongoing.
However, Tyagi’s family claims that the attack was not random and that it was, in fact, a targeted crime aimed at instilling fear in Muslims. The police claim otherwise.
Tyagi, a farmer, lived in Vinaipur with his wife and daughter while his three sons live study in Delhi. Speaking to The Wire about what transpired, one of his sons, Shahrukh, said, “My father was sat on the porch of the house chatting with our relatives. At around 10 pm, a group of 22 men on about seven or eight bikes arrived.”
“He was attacked with sharp weapons; chain sockets latched onto sticks,” Shahrukh continued. “They attacked my father on his head and he also suffered three separate injuries on his hand. They fired on my cousins too, however, since they were much younger, my cousins escaped.”
“As they attacked him, they were raising the slogan of ‘Jai Shri Ram’,” Shahrukh said.
After the attack, Tyagi was taken to the Family Health Hospital in Meerut for treatment. However, in the wee hours of the morning, he succumbed to his injuries.
The first information report (FIR) in the case, accessed by The Wire, was registered at the Khekra police station on September 3, against unknown persons. Charges were made out under Indian Penal Code (IPC) Sections 147 (Punishment for rioting); 148 (Rioting, armed with a deadly weapon); 149 (Every member of unlawful assembly guilty of offence committed in prosecution of common object); and 302 (Murder).
The FIR is congruent with how Shahrukh described the sequence of events – that Tyagi was sitting on his porch talking to his relatives when he was attacked and killed by around 20 men. However, it makes no mention of the ‘Jai Shri Ram’ slogans which the crowd allegedly chanted.
Thereafter, on September 5, the Khekra police issued a statement saying that they had arrested four persons in connection with Tyagi’s murder – Nikki alias Vikki, Harish, Mohit and Dilip; all residents of Bhagot, a village near Vinaipur.
This story was originally published in thewire.in . Read the full story here