Two days after the brutal murder of Bajrang Dal activist Rinku Sharma in Delhi, the Delhi Police on Saturday decided to transfer the Mangolpuri murder case to the crime branch. Till now, Mangolpuri police officials were investigating the Rinku Sharma murder case.
It is pertinent to note that soon after the murder, the Delhi Police had said that there was no ‘communal angle‘ to the murder even though the family had said that Rinku Sharma was murdered by Islamists because he chanted Jai Shree Ram and was collecting funds for Ram Mandir. The Rinku Sharma murder case has been transferred to the Crime Branch after questions were raised regarding the investigation by the Delhi Police and their initial assessment of the case.
The initial assessment of the Delhi police in the Mangolpuri murder case did not go well with the residents of Delhi and also several social media users, who demanded a detail investigation into the murder case. After the backlash, the Delhi Police had backtracked a bit to state they are investigating ‘all angles’ related to the brutal murder of Bajrang Dal activist Rinku Sharma.
Delhi Police transfers case after outrage from several quarters
The Delhi Police had initially maintained that Rinku Sharma was stabbed to death following an argument during a birthday party. “Both the sides had a rivalry over opening food joints close to each other”, the Delhi Police had said. This statement was disputed by the brother of Rinku Sharma who said that Rinku was a lab technician and did not have a food joint or even intended to open one. The Police had gone as far as to say that any other motive attributed to the crime was ‘factually wrong’.
Rinku, 25, was stabbed at birthday party in Mangolpuri on Feb 10. He later died at hospital. Quarrel turned scuffle began over shutting down of a restaurant. Any other motive alluded to incident factually wrong. 4 accused arrested: S.Dhama, Addl DCP, Outer district, Delhi Police pic.twitter.com/X3aYzrhfjj
— ANI (@ANI) February 12, 2021
Even as Delhi Police came on record to say that there was no ‘communal angle’ to the murder of Rinku Sharma, more evidence and videos emerged on social media that clearly showed that the case was not as cut and dry as the Delhi police were making it out to be with their statement. In addition to that, the family of the deceased, neighbours, friends had all asserted that Rinku Sharma was murdered by a mob of 15-20 Muslims after a clash that erupted during the Ram Mandir donation drive on Wednesday.
The distressed father, barely managing to keep himself sitting, recounted the horror to the media. He said that the assailants barged into the house with sticks and knives and brutally stabbed Rinku to death. However, without taking these factors into account, the Delhi Police had initially assessed that there was no communal angle in the death of Rinku Sharma.
After widespread outrage, the Delhi Police had changed its tunes and asserted that they were ‘probing all angles’ related to the murder of Rinku Sharma.
However, that limited assertion did not assuage soaring anger after the Delhi Police’s initial statement. Following the demands of the family of Rinku Sharma and various other organisations, the Delhi Police has now decided to transfer the case to special crime branch from the Mangolpuri police station. It seems that the initial mistrust that was sown and the initial downplaying of communal angle by the Mangolpuri police has now led to transfer to the crime branch.
Rinku Sharma stabbed to death for seeking donations for the construction of Ram Mandir in Ayodhya
The 26-year-old Rinku Sharma, who worked as a lab technician in a hospital in Paschim Vihar, was attacked on the night of Wednesday. Sharma was killed in cold blood for raising ‘Jai Shri Ram’ slogans and being a part of the donation drive for the Ram Mandir. He was reportedly attacked by a group of 25–30 people. The police have arrested four accused in the case. They have been identified as Mohammad Islam, Danish Naseeruddin, Dilshan and Dilshad Islam.
Rinku was actively involved in the fundraising campaign for the construction of the Ram temple in Ayodhya. According to the report, an awareness rally was taken out last month regarding Ram temple’s construction in the area. During that time, Rinku had a dispute with the accused. However, the case was settled with the intervention by the locals. Following this, Rinku had a dispute with the accused at a birthday party. On Wednesday night, he was attacked after the culprits barged into his house and stabbed him to death.
Days before his murder, Rinku had donated his blood to the wife of one of the attackers who killed him. The woman was pregnant one and a half years ago and was in a critical condition. Blood was needed for treatment. In such a situation, Rinku gave his blood, not once but twice, to the accused’s wife.
