Masihuzzama Ansari | India Tomorrow

SAHARANPUR(Western UP), JULY 1—While both the police as well as relatives of 32-year-old Israr killed by brutal beating by a crowd are avoiding to call it ‘mob lynching’ for reasons best known to them, Saharanpur police have arrested two of the accused allegedly involved in the killing and are looking for the remaining 9 others.

Israr, who was a resident of Imaliya village and was badly beaten with baton and sharp-edged weapons on June 18 when he was on his way to Kotesar village for his business.  Israr was a carpenter by profession.

He was, however, rescued by his family members and the police, and rushed to a hospital in Saharanpur where he expired.

Israr got married eight years ago. He is survived by two sons, one daughter and his wife.

His elder brother Gulfam told India Tomorrow, “I received a call around 6.30 pm on June 18 that Israr was being beaten up by some people in Dehra village on way to Kotesar. I immediately reached the village and saw that some people were beating him with lathis and sticks. I tried to stop the assailants but they did not listen. As I had called up police also, they rescued him and took him to a hospital in Saharanpur where he died”.

Stating that Israr was having no enmity with anybody, Gulfam said he asked Dehra villagers the reason for the attack. “Dehra villagers alleged that Israr had a child with his bike and this was the provocation for attack on Israr”.

A video about Israr being brutally beaten up was also prepared by the assailant and circulated on the social media.

But the residents of Imaliya to which Israr belonged don’t call the murder a ‘mob lynching’. They say it was a sudden attack by a group of people from Dehra residents after Israr hit a child.

Imaliya village head or ‘Pradhan’ also refused that it was ‘mob lynching’. “Police are investigating the case”, he simply said.

Dehra village Pradhan Sher Singh repeated the same thing as other residents of his village. Singh said that Israr had reportedly attacked a child of the village that provoked the villagers to retaliate in which Israr was injured and died subsequently.

When asked about the injured boy in attack by Israr, Singh said neither the boy nor his mother was in the village.

Former MLA from Deoband Maviya Ali said, “The incident should not be given a communal colour”.

While Station House Officer of Deoband Police station Yagya Dutt Sharma avoided to talk, Circle Officer ( Deoband) Rajnish Kumar said, “We have registered an FIR against 11 persons. Two have been arrested and police are looking for the rest”.

Saharanpur-based Social activist Mehdi Hasan Qasmi, who is also Director of the Deoband Islamic Academy, was surprised that cases of mob lynching was ending that began with Akhlaq. “Why have we become so cruel? Police might arrest the accused and get them punishment from court but the bigger a question is why have we become so intolerant and criminal minded?”, asked Qasmi.

Dalit leader Chandrashekhar Azad belongs to Saharanpur district. But he has so far not spoken even a word about it. The accused involved in Israr’s murder or ‘mob lynching’ belong to Chandrashekhar’s caste.