A case was registered against 89 individuals on Sunday (12th October) after a Muslim mob attacked some policemen in Gangnauli village in the Baghpat district of Uttar Pradesh when the police were trying to send the bodies in a triple murder case for postmortem. According to the FIR, filed at the instance of SI Pranshu Rajput, a Muslim mob of hundreds abused and attacked policemen and tore the badges on their uniforms. The mob also vandalised the police vehicles and pelted stones.
The incident happened when the police were trying to send the bodies of the wife and two daughters of a Muslim cleric of a local Jama Masjid for postmortem. Muslim cleric Ibrahim’s wife and two daughters were found murdered in their house around 2 pm on Saturday (11th October). The bodies of the victims were first found by some girls who came to Mufti Ibrahim’s house to receive religious education from Israna, the Mufti’s wife. They found the bodies of Israna and their daughters Sofia and Sumaiya lying on a cot covered in blood.
The incident happened when Mufti Ibrahim went to Deoband in Saharanpur to welcome the Afghan Taliban Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi.
As soon as the news of the murder broke out, a large crowd of locals gathered and started protesting. Teams of police, including some senior officials also arrived at the scene and tried to pacify the angry locals.
When police attempted to send the bodies for post-mortem examination, people gathered outside the mosque. They prevented the police from removing the bodies for two hours and created a ruckus. The policemen present at the spot abused and assaulted, their uniforms and badges were torn and thrown away. The mob also vanalised the government vehicles. Stones were also pelted by the mob, and the road was blocked. The mob also attacked the vehicles of SP and ASP, and attempted to break the cars.
After the situation was controled, the bodies were taken for post-mortem.
The police first detained Mufti Ibrahim when he returned on suspicion of his involvement in the murder, as all the CCTV cameras inside the mosque were turned off. However, he was released after questioning. Subsequently, the police examined the CCTV footage of the area and identified two minor students of Mufti Ibrahim, who were seen entering the mosque. The students were arrested by the police and interrogated.
Mufti’s students wanted to take revenge for their thrashing
During the questioning, they admitted to having murdered Mufti Ibrahim’s family. The accused told the police that on Saturday morning, around 9 am, Mufti Ibrahim thrashed them in the Madrassa. They said that the Mufti used to beat them regularly and humiliate them in front of others. This angered them, and they decided to take revenge.
They had been planning for this for several days. When they came to know that Ibrahim had gone to Deoband on Saturday, both of them came to the mosque in the afternoon.
The accused said that after Mufti Ibrahim left for Deoband around 10 am, they entered the Mufti’s house located on the top floor of the mosque at around 1 pm, and found his wife Israna and two daughters Sofia and Sumaiya sleeping there. The two youths grabbed a hammer kept in the house and hit all three victims on their heads. After that, the accused slit the throats of the victims and ran away.
Police have recovered the murder weapons, a sickle and a knife.
After the horrific crime was discovered by the locals, they cleverly joined the crowd, who were demanding action against the culprits. They also joined the demands for the release of Mufti Ibrahim when he was detained by the police for questioning.
A case was registered against a total of 89 people, 29 named and 60 unidentified individuals, for the attack on police. Police said that the rest are being identified, and will be nabbed soon.
Mufti Ibrahim, a resident of Sunna village in Shamli district, has been living with his family in a room on the upper floor of the Gangnauli mosque for three years. His wife Israna taught religious education to girls in the neighborhood. Shattered by the incident, Mufti Ibrahim left the mosque and moved to his native place in Shamli district of Uttar Pradesh.
