Tensions flared up late night on Tuesday, 19th March, after Sajid slit the throats of two Hindu boys identified as Ayush, 14 and Honey, and injured a third child named Piyush. Sajid was killed in counter-fire by the Uttar Pradesh Police.
As per reports, as soon as locals heard the screams of the mother, they dragged her outside the house and shut the door. However, Sajid managed to escape. He was chased by the police and encountered.
Enraged, locals assembled in the area and vandalised Sajid’s salon shop and set it on fire. Some more shops near the salon were set ablaze by the angry crowd. As per reports, the angry crowd were nearing the place of worship of a particularly community, implying a mosque, in the area when the police stopped them.
Videos doing the rounds on social media show angry residents confronting the police authorities at the spot and raising slogans against the administration. They can be heard narrating to the police the brutality of the crime.
The angry locals also reached the police station and began sloganeering. As per reports, the SSP tried to reason with the crowd. Heavy police and paramilitary forces have been deployed in the area to prevent the tensions from escalating.
Suspecting that the accused was inside the police station, the crowd also attempted to set fire to the police station by pouring petrol on the premises.
It was reportedly after the demonstration by the locals that Sajid was killed in the encounter. SSP Alok Priyadarshi gave orders to shut all markets in the city.
Vehicle movement was stopped on Majhiya road leading to a crowd jam near the police station. The crowd was eventually disbursed. Demonstrations were made by locals at the site of murder too.
As per reports, the police also raided the family of the accused Sajid in Sakhanu in the Alapur Police Station area where his family lives.
Meanwhile, SSP Priyadarshi has said that the situation is under control now and there is no problem in the city. The police are also closely monitoring social media.
A flag march was held by the police on Wednesday morning, 20th March.
Further investigation has revealed that Sajid used to frequent the house of the victim as his shop was located right opposite their residence.
