In Bareilly, Uttar Pradesh, an elderly Hindu man died allegedly after an assault by his Muslim neighbours. As per reports, the deceased man was a victim of the Kashmiri Hindu exodus and had escaped with his family to UP after Islamists threatened Hindus in Jammu and Kashmir.
The deceased Harbans Lal, aged 79 years, had an ongoing dispute with his Muslim neighbours over the cooking of meat and wanted to put fibre sheets on the wall to keep the smell of meat out. The dispute with the Muslim neighbours was over Lal’s family putting up fibre sheets to barricade the portion off.
The incident occurred on 15 January. Deceased Harbans Lal, residing in the Neelkanth Colony of Bareilly, was getting fibre sheets put up on his wall that he shared with his Muslim neighbour Sagir Ahmed, as per reports. Sagir Ahmed had objected to the wall being covered up with fibre sheets and had fought with Harbans Lal over the issue.
As per the complaint by Harbans Lal’s son Hemant, Sagir and his wife had fought with Harbans Lal over the fibre sheet works on the wall. The family had frequent fights with Lal’s family because the Lal family was objecting to the smell of meat coming from Sagir’s house. On 15 January, the fight escalated and Sagir and his wife allegedly pushed Harbans Lal and hit him. Harbans Lal suffered a fall and was rushed to the hospital. However, he was declared brought dead.
The police have registered a case of unintentional murder against Sagir and his wife. The locals were outraged after the death of Harbans Lal and Hindu organisations demanded the immediate arrest of Sagir and his family for the murder of Lal.
Hemant Lal has informed that his family is a victim of the Kashmiri Pandit exodus and they had eventually settled in Bareilly after escaping from Kashmir decades ago. In the colony, there are around 32 Hindu families and Sagir’s family was the only Muslim family in the neighbourhood. He added that they never had any fight with other neighbours but with Sagir’s family.
The Bareilly Police have registered an FIR against Sagir and his son Imran in the matter on the victim family’s complaint.
थाना बारादरी क्षेत्र में वाद-विवाद के कारण बुजुर्ग की मृत्यु हो जाने के बाद अभियोग पंजीकृत कर, की जा रही अग्रिम विधिक कार्रवाई के संबंध में पुलिस अधीक्षक नगर #bareillypolice श्री मानुष पारीक की बाइट।#UPPolice pic.twitter.com/tL7nPuZUWR
— Bareilly Police (@bareillypolice) January 16, 2025
The Bareilly police have stated that they have the CCTV footage of the incident and are examining the complaints made. SP Manush Pareek also added that no injuries were detected on the body of Harbans Lal and the cause of death will be clear after post-mortem. He stated that the police is investigating the allegations made.
As per reports, Sagir has denied beating the elderly man. Sagir and his family have absconded and their house is locked.
