AIMIM Jokihat MLA Shahnwaz Alam met Araria’s DM and SP concerning Ismail’s lynching case and made the subsequent demands.
On meeting Bihar, Araria’s District Magistrate and Superintendent of Police, AIMIM Jokihat MLA Shahnwa Alam demanded that:
1. Ismail’s family should be given proper compensation
2. The absconding accused should be arrested as soon as possible.
3. If required, pressure should be made on the accused who absconded by confiscating Kurki-Kurki.
Shahnawaz Alam, Jokihat MLA from Asaduddin Owaisi’s party AIMIM ( All India Majli-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen), on Monday met with the victim’s family spending time with them for about four hours and said, “This is condemnable. I am constantly in touch with the victim’s family. The two accused have been arrested, and we have demanded quick arrest of the other accused from the administration. Whatever may be the reason, the way Ismail has been killed is shameful. Different weapons were used to kill him. It seems those involved are unsocial elements. We believe in harmony. We have demanded strict action, so that such an incident doesn’t repeat.”
The unfortunate incident happened in Bihar’s Araria district early Sunday morning on suspicion of theft where 30-year-old Ismail was lynched by a mob in Kursail Village in Jokihat. The police said the victim’s family claims that there was some old conflict that led to the killing, but other villagers say Ismail was a thief.
Later, the accused took him to a nearby hospital, where he died while under treatment. The police filed a first information report (FIR) against 15 people involved in the lynching, and nabbed two prime accused Rupesh Yadav and Nitesh Yadav.
Araria sub-divisional police officer (SDPO) Pushpar Kumar said, “We received information that he (Ismail) went to Rupesh and Nitesh’s house for committing theft, and he was caught there and beaten by them and other villagers. He was taken to the hospital where he died during treatment. Now, the victim’s family claims that there was some old dispute, but villagers say he was a thief. We are investigating both angles.”
Ismail is survived by two wives, three children, and an old father. The family was poor and lived in a mud and bamboo hut and used to work as an electrician. His family also say that he used to work as a migrant labourer in Delhi and Punjab and returned to Bihar when the lockdown had started. Then he started working as a laborer and electrician in the village.
The investigation and chase are on to find Ismail’s killers. There have been series of lynchings especially of Muslims in India over the last few years, leading to the nickname lynchistan. Many Indians had to look up the dictionary or do a Google search for the meaning of lynching because no one had really heard of such prevalent cases before.