By TwoCircles.net Staff Reporter,
Alwar (Rajasthan): Arif, a 22-year-old youth from Meo Muslim community of the Mewat region, was shot dead at his house in Tapukra village in the district by a police constable, his family has alleged.
One constable has been arrested while two have been suspended in this connection.
Arif sustained three bullet injuries when he was shot by constable of the Tapukra thana on the night of October 20. Two of the bullets were found inside his body during the post-mortem. Arif’s brother Azad lodged a police complaint at the Tapukra thana, on the Superintendent of Police’s assurance that the perpetrators of the crime – Kailashchand, Seduram, Ajay Kumar and Rampratap – all constables of Takupra thana, will be brought to justice.
Four days later, on October 25, at a gathering of the Meo community at Tapukra, SP Vikas Kumar informed the bereaved family that two of the four constables involved in the incident – Kailashchand and Ramprasad – had been suspended. But there was no mention about dismissal and arrest of all four policemen.
Azad gave the SP a charter of demands from his family in front of the whole congregation. At a press conference on October 26 Arif’s family, Meo community leaders and human rights activists laid out the facts of the case, stated the grievances of the family and set forth a clear statement of demands.
Thereafter, the same delegation met Alwar Collector M P Swami and requested him for speedy justice and to arrange a meeting with the Chief Minister, who was scheduled to arrive the next day in Bhiwadi. The Collector apprised that a sum of Rs Two lakh was sanctioned by the CM.
On October 27, the Chief Minister met Arif’s brother and father, repeated that money has already been sanction but remained non-committal about suspension and arrests of all four persons and other demands.
Activists claimed that only one of the accused, Kailashchand, who had been suspended earlier along with Rampratap, was arrested so far. The rest three accused are still at large.
The PUCL members from Alwar district, led by Noor Mohammed and state PUCL members Kavita Srivastava and Maulana Hanif, PUCL volunteers Nishtha Bharti, Meraj Ahmed, Nidhi Malik, Deepanjali, Sahil and others, conducted a fact finding on this issue. The team is still working on it and plan to take this up to the NHRC and other institutions.