After Uttar Pradesh, the Aurangabad police in the state of Bihar have filed a chargesheet against alleged rioters on charges of stone pelting, reported Firstpost. Out of the 46 people arrested, the police have not found any evidence against five said Meraj Khan, the lawyer representing the accused.
The violence took place on December 21, 2019 following which the five identified as Shams Waris, Shahbaz Nawab, Haseena Khatoon, Ishrat Khatoon and Ishran Khatoon were arrested after false charges were allegedly foisted upon them. Now, their names have been dropped.
It was reported that while the rioting transpired, Shams Waris was actually in the court, securing bail in another case. In the case of Shahbaz, there were two variations with regards to how he was arrested. According to the FIR, he was arrested from a terrace along with five other “culprits”, but according to the police diary, Shahbaz was in his lane trying to get home when rioters were pelting stones there. The diary quoted an eyewitness who stated that Shahbaz was hurt in the stone pelting after he ran away from the police, towards the rioters, where he fell and was injured. However, a video of Shahbaz being brutally beat up by the police after being cornered at a shop have been circulated and in that video Shahbaz is seen making a futile attempt to save himself from the blows that the police are raining on him. Shahbaz’s brother Sajid, is relieved now that Shahbaz has been reunited with his wife and eight-month-old son. “He even started working to get back to normalcy. We hope to put it behind us and resume our ordinary lives,” Sajid said.
Haseena Khatoon who was arrested with Ishrat and Ishran from an engagement ceremony along with two women and ten men in Qureshi Mohalla is angry with the police. She said, “We cried endlessly, but the police did not stop beating us. We told them we have not seen anything. We told them to have mercy. But they did not listen.” Mohammed Qiyamuddin, Ishrat husband had told Firstpost, “They upended the table where all the food had been prepared. They smashed the TV, and ruined the sofa. They started beating us and abused us continuously. They arrested women in the absence of women constables.”
Shahabuddin Qureshi, the head of the Qureshi family where the ceremony was happening told The Print, “It was my brother-in-law’s son Shaukat Qureshi’s wedding. The lawyer told us not to file a case, else the District Magistrate would falsely implicate us instead. That’s why we didn’t say anything. The police beat up a 15-year-old Imran too at our home. A total of five people suffered injuries to their hands and legs. The police destroyed the cupboards, drawers and food. The police entered our home at around 1:30 PM and left about 45 minutes later. We weren’t even a part of the rally.”
Thankful that her name was dropped from the chargesheet she was still horrified as she recollected the events to Firstpost. She said that the police first took her and the others to Jama Masjid, clicked their photos and proceeded with them to the police station. “We were scared,” she said, adding, “They had already broken someone’s arm or someone’s leg. So we did not say much at the police station.”
However, post dropping the names of the five people from the chargesheet, the police have added three names to it based on photographs, bringing the total number of accused to 44. Meraj Khan, the lawyer trying to secure the release of the accused said, “Out of those, 13 were said to be minors, but one of them has turned out to be an adult after his medical examination. All the minors are out on bail and 18 adults have also received bail.”
The police said that the protest that was called on by the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) on December 21, 2019, turned violent after a mob of 200 people led by local councilor Sikandar Hayat arrived at the site. The police had said that stone pelting ensued after the mob began beating up shopkeepers and the police arrest five, including Hayat after they failed to comply with the police’s warnings. However, in the FIR by the police it was mentioned that Hayat was arrested again while jumping off a roof along with others allegedly indulging in stone pelting.
The FIR accuses him of leading a mob, and triggering riots against the police. The first page of the FIR claims when the bandh ended at around 12.15 pm, a mob of 200, led by Hayat, emerged at the scene. “The mob started beating up shopkeepers near a book store, asking them to shut shop,” the FIR notes. “When police tried to intervene, the mob chanted slogans against them and started throwing bricks and stones. A brick landed on a policeman’s head, and he got seriously injured. Hayat was egging the protesters on.” However, the shopkeepers who were reportedly beaten up by Hayat do not feature as witnesses in a police diary submitted at a district court at Aurangabad, Bihar.
One of the 18 adults out on bail is Sikandar Hayat, the main accused behind the riots. He told Firstpost, “The FIR is 100 percent wrong. When I realised that there was unrest, I stepped out to see what was happening. Qureshi mohalla, where I live, was quiet then. I told people in my mohalla to get back in to their homes so there won’t be any problem. I was ensuring that things don’t blow up in my locality.”
He added that after he got people back to their homes, he returned to his place too. “That is when the police emerged and picked me up,” he said. “The police have claimed I did a lot of things in the FIR. I am sure they do not have any proof. Not one photo or video.”
Reports of police brutality have been rampant in the anti-CAA protests in Bihar, mostly in Muzaffarpur, Gopalganj, Bhagalpur, Patna, Phulwari Sharif and Siwan.
Related:
Delhi violence: Genesis of carnage
Bihar: 13 minors allegedly charged and imprisoned as adults by police in FIR
Fact-finding report reveals police brutality at Aurangabad and Phulwari Sharif