On April 20, a man named Sunny Gupta was murdered in Patna in Bihar after being shot by one Chand Mohammad over a dispute regarding lockdown restrictions between the local youths and the NCC cadets. Sunny Gupta was sitting in his balcony when an altercation ensued between the two groups over lockdown restrictions that have been imposed in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak. The youths then resorted to stone-pelting and firing shots at the cadets. Unfortunately, one of the bullets hit Sunny who was not even remotely involved with the incident. He was then rushed to the hospital where he breathed his last on Monday night.
Sunny’s sister’s wedding was just around the corner
Sunny was murdered at a time when his family was busy in the marriage preparations. On May 1, Sunny’s sister Deepika was scheduled to get married. However, there was a cloud of uncertainty over it because of the nationwide lockdown to battle the coronavirus spread. Nevertheless, the family was cautiously preparing for the wedding. But now, following the unfortunate death of Sunny, the marriage has been indefinitely postponed to a later date, said Sunny’s brother Deepak Gupta.
The victim’s family has raised apprehensions over the role of local administration. Though police personnel are stationed outside their home for their protection, Deepak claims that the family is still plagued with concerns of their safety until the main accused Chand Mohammad is not arrested.
Earlier Deepak had told Opindia that Chand is a smuggler of arms. Deepak’s family has long been opposing his hooliganism and were therefore on the list of his prime targets. According to Deepak, Chand barged into their house on the day of the incident and shot Sunny in his head.
However, Khajekalan police station-in charge Sanovar Khan has denied these allegations. He said that a case was registered against six people. Out of these, five were immediately arrested. The search for Chand Mohammad is underway. He admits that Chand is a history-sheeter and will be arrested soon. However, he denied providing detailed information about the case saying the matter is serious and complete information can not be shared with the media at this point in time.
Sunny Gupta had a tent business and was married three years ago. He has left behind his two-year-old son Anurag and a 4-month-old daughter Aaradhya. Sunny had gotten into a dispute with local youths on April 20 after they started pelting stones at the NCC cadets who opposed the former’s brazen violation of the lockdown restrictions.
Responding against the horrific atrocity meted out on Sunny and his family, former councillor Balram Chaudhary and corporator Shobha Devi sat on a fast demanding immediate arrest of accused Chand. Chaudhary also added that they have also demanded appropriate compensation for the family along with their safety. A letter has been written in this regard to the chief minister of the state.
Adil Mirza tries to exploit the death of Sunny Gupta
Soon after Sunny Gupta was cruelly gunned by Chand Mohammad, one Adil Mirza tried to exploit his death by stoking communal passions on social media. He posted inflammatory content on Facebook through a fake account with the name Shahzad Siddique. Adil has been arrested by the police.
Posting from a Facebook profile created under Shahzad Siddiqui’s name, Adil wrote, “Right that he was shot dead. If I were there, I would have killed him too. Mothers of all Hindus will be f**ked, these motherf**kers think we Muslims are weak. These all motherf**ckers belong to the RSS. We will barge into your houses and kill you…All Hindus should be shot dead.”
Talking to OpIndia, Khajekalan police station officer Sanovar Khan said that a man named Adil had made objectionable remarks on the Social Media regarding the death of Sunny Gupta to vitiate the communal harmony. He said that soon after his offensive post was flagged and brought to the attention of police, Adil was arrested.
According to media reports, Mohammad Adil Mirza, a resident of Fauzdari Mohalla of Khajekalan police station area, created two fake accounts in the wake of Sunny Gupta’s death to incite communal passions. He targeted Bihar’s Road Construction Minister Nand Kishore Yadav and the former councillor, Balaram Chaudhary, with fake accounts and threatened to shoot them. Adil was arrested by the police soon after his post went viral. The police have retrieved a laptop and a mobile phone from him.
The media reports claimed that Adil held a grudge against Shahzad and therefore created a fake account under his name to stoke hatred. Adil had reportedly come from Saudi Arabia in October 2019. During this time, Shahzad’s bike was stolen and was found in possession with Adil. Shahzad had then beaten Adil to the pulp. To avenge this thrashing, Adil posted the provocative posts on Facebook under Shahzad’s name. A report published in Live Hindustan that quoted city SP said that the atmosphere in the city could have worsened as Adil was consistently making offensive remarks.
