Sami Ahmad
PATNA— Zahiruddin, 55, of Majhwaliya village under the Gaura police outpost of Saran district was murdered in a mob-lynching incident that took place on Wednesday. This ghastly incident took place near Bangra village under Jalalpur police station of the same district while his family was waiting for him for Eid-al-Azha. Chhapra is 110 kilometers northwest of Bihar’s capital Patna.
This is the second mob-lynching case in this district in less than four months. On March 7 this year, Naseeb Quraishi was murdered in a mob lynching case near Jogia Masjid under Rasulpur police station in the district. He was accused of carrying beef.
According to a Hindi daily, three others including the cashier of Unique Bone Fertilizer company Qaiyum Khan got seriously injured in this mob lynching. They are being treated in a private hospital.
Zahir was driving a pick-up van carrying animal bones to a factory. The van stopped after some problems and the people who assembled around turned violent and beat up Zahir mercilessly who succumbed to his injuries at Chhapra Sadar Hospital after getting first aid at Jalalpur community health centre.
Saran SP Gaurav Mangla told media persons that an FIR has been lodged by Zahir’s wife Zaibun Nisa in which six persons are named while 25 are unknown. A police team is stationed in the area to avert a possible communal flare-up.
Police have picked up around 20 people including a Pujari and a retired army jawan from Bangra, Balua and Kavla Chhapra villages for investigation.
According to media reports, Zahiruddin belonged to a poor family who worked in the bone factory for the last few years. He had gone to nearby Paighambarpur to load animal bones. After loading he was going to the factory when his vehicle developed a glitch.
Zahiruddin was father of two sons and two daughters. His sons work in Gulf while his daughters live with their mother.
Loktantrik Jan Pahal convener Satya Narayan Madan was part of the team who had gone to inquire about the March incident of mob lynching in Saran. He said that the second incident of mob lynching in the district within four months puts serious questions on the administration’s role.
“This incident took place a day before Eid-al-Azha when the police go on high alert. This incident must be investigated to see if there is a political design behind it”, said the senior social activist.
He added, “It seems that despite Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s commitment to secularism, his administration is communalized to some extent. In the case of the last mob lynching role of police was questionable.”
Social activist and vice president of All India Muslim Majlis-e-Mashavrat Syer Nashoor Ajmal Nushi told India Tomorrow that it was quite worrying that in Saran district two mob lynching cases took place in four months.
He said, “Chief Minister Nitish Kumar is known to be a secular person but such incidents are a challenge for him.” He demanded that a thorough inquiry should be done and it should also be investigated if any organisation is behind such an incident.
Mr. Ajmal said that this could be an act of a cow-vigilante group, and police must investigate this aspect properly. He said that mob lynching is a national issue now and the government of India should bring a stringent law to combat it. He said that Bihar should introduce specific laws for mob lynching as the Jharkhand government has done.
