New Delhi: On July 19, 29-year-old Aqeel Ahmed, a local driver in Lakhimpur, was assaulted while visiting a fair in the city with his nephew, Chunnan, and one Baba Khan. After sustaining multiple injuries, Ahmed was taken to a hospital where he eventually succumbed to his injuries.
The police apprehended four individuals for the incident and initially charged them with sections relating to culpable homicide. However, after protests from the family, the four accused were charged with murder by the Lakhimpur police.
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At the fair, a small scuffle broke out over a swing ride between Baba and one Devarshish Shukla, who is close to a local Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader, a source who wished not to be named, told The Wire.
Following the scuffle, one of the accused allegedly called BJP leader Anoop Shukla, who came to the parking lot of the fair and attacked Baba with his men.
According to a Shareef, Aqeel’s brother, the latter was trying to stop the fight when his nephew and Baba escaped from the spot. Then, the mob fatally assaulted Aqeel.
“They were assaulting Baba when my brother intervened and requested them to let him go since they had already hit him many times. This angered them even more because he’s just a driver,” Shareef said.
“They caught my brother and killed him on the spot by repeatedly hitting him on the groin. My brother was innocent. He was married just 15 months ago and his wife, Farzana, is pregnant with his child. They destroyed three lives,” he continued.
Shareef denied any communal angle in the attack and said that the accused had come to settle scores with Baba for the scuffle during the fair.
In a tweet, Kheri Police said that on July 20, it had arrested four accused in the case – Devarshish Shukla, Rajat Rastogi, Brajesh Shukla and Anoop Shukla – on charges of culpable homicide.
#SPKheri के निर्देशन में वांछित/वारण्टी अभियुक्तों की गिरफ्तारी हेतु चलाए जा रहे अभियान में आज दिनांक 20.07.22 को कोतवाली सदर पुलिस द्वारा गैर इरादतन हत्या से संबंधित वांछित 04 अभियुक्तों रजत रस्तोगी, देवर्षि उर्फ चानू शुक्ला, अनूप शुक्ला व बृजेश शुक्ला को गिरफ्तार किया गया pic.twitter.com/5R4od1839B
— KHERI POLICE (@kheripolice) July 20, 2022
In a video statement to the press, the Kheri superintendent of police (SP) Arun Kumar Singh said, “There was a scuffle between some men over a swing ride. Later, they came to the streets and a physical fight ensued in which one man got badly injured. He was taken to the hospital where he was declared dead. The incident has been captured by CCTV (cameras). The footage is being analysed…We have arrested the accused.”
Sharif alleged that the police wanted to make the case against the four accused a weak one since they were initially charged under Indian Penal Code (IPC) Section 304 (culpable homicide), However, as Hindi daily Amar Ujala reported, the victim’s family blocked roads to protest the murder and demanded the police take strong action against the accused.
Following the protests, the accused were charged with murder under IPC Section 302.
