After a Muslim youth was allegedly beaten to death on September 9 following a dispute in Shamli district of Uttar Pradesh, his young family has been left in agony and despair. The police have filed an FIR and arrested a few accused. The family is demanding justice and are seeking the arrest of all accused in the case.
Aas Mohammad Kaif | TwoCircles.net
BANAT, UTTAR PRADESH – The murder of a 24-year-old youth Sameer Ahmad of Shamli district of Uttar Pradesh has left his family in agony and despair. Sameer was allegedly beaten to death on September 9 following a dispute in Banat town of Shamli.
Sameer had recently found a job and had gone to rectify his Aadhar card details as part of paperwork for the new job. The family said their happiness of Sameer finding a job has been cut short as “he was murdered.”
As per his family, Sameer had gone to the nearby Tata Service Centre to availing necessary Aadhar card facilities. “He was beaten to death after his elbow touched a person leading to a dispute,” Sameer’s mother Fatima told TwoCircles.net at her home in Banat.
According to Sameer’s uncle Khalid, “Around 8 to 10 boys beat him up and smashed his head on the ground, causing his death.”
Khalid claimed that some of the assailants belong to an extremist Hindu organization. The claim has not been corroborated by the police.
The incident took place in Banat, which is a Muslim-majority town (with a population of ten thousand) in the Shamli district of Uttar Pradesh and is barely five kilometres away from the district headquarters. Although the town is known for its communal harmony and brotherhood, tension has been brewing between the two communities here following the alleged wrongful defeat of Wajahat Ali Khan in the local Nagar Panchayat elections in 2018.
Being a small town, reports said that the assailants and the victim knew each other.
Following the murder, an FIR has been filed against eight accused at Aadarsh Mandi police station in Shamli. The police said that there may be old enmity between the accused men and the victim.
Sameer was sole bread-winner of family
Sameer’s mother Fatima is heartbroken with grief. Sameer was the eldest son of the family and took over as a motor mechanic following the death of his father two years ago.
“He was working very hard and his only goal was to earn enough for the education of his sister and brothers,” Fatima said, adding, “He understood his responsibility very well and had no animosity with anyone.”
Sameer had recently landed a job as a mechanic in a motor company (Tata) here. He was currently engaged in paperwork for the same.
As per his family, there was a deficiency in his Aadhar card and he had gone to a nearby service centre to get it fixed. “Why was he murdered? What was his crime? Two years ago, I lost my husband and now I lost my only support.”
Sameer’s uncle Khalid, who lives in Prem Nagar, a locality in Banat asked this reporter to get the assailants arrested and get justice for them.
“We are making efforts for the same. A case has been registered against eight accused all of them are residents of Banat,” he said.
Although Khalid discounts that Sameer was killed because of his religion but maintains that “all the accused youth belong to a particular ideology and are known for hooliganism.”
According to the FIR lodged at Adarsh Mandi police station, the accused include Vatan Raj son Soupal, Vardan son of Mintu, Akshay son of Kullu, Raj son of Rajesh, Ashish son of Harish Chandra, Lucky son of Gabbar, Ayush Rana son of D. Rana and Bhonda son of Bharat.
According to Sunil Negi, the Station House Officer (SHO) at Adarsh Mandi Police Station “two youth Watanraj and Vardan Chaudhary, residents of Azadnagar area, have been arrested and efforts are on to arrest the rest.”
Khalid insists that all the accused be arrested at the earliest.
Sameer’s sister Iram, an 11th standard student, told TwoCircles.net that she left her studies following the death of her father two years ago, “But my brother Sameer convinced me that as long as he is alive, he will support my education. He was very supportive.”
Iram blamed the goons of the area for killing his brother.
Sameer has left behind a devastated family. His two brothers Asif and Rihan are both students. Asif has passed the 10th board exams and Rihan is a 6th standard student.
His sister Iram is not sure if she would continue her education or even her brothers would. “We would study due to the support of my brother. No will be able to study now,” she said.
Sameer’s friend Rizwan told TwoCircles.net that Sameer was an easy-going person before his father passed away. “After his father died, Sameer changed and his responsibilities increased and he was not able to spend time with us,” he said.
Rizwan said that Sameer had started working as a motor mechanic in a nearby town. “Now he had landed a job in some company,” he said, adding, “His death has devastated his family and created havoc. They have nothing left now.”