On August 29, Basti Police (Uttar Pradesh) arrested two brothers identified as Irfan and Irshad and their cousin Israr for murdering a 19-year-old Hindu boy Ankit as he allegedly was in a relationship with their sister Ameena Khatun. The sister was also found dead under mysterious circumstances, as per reports.
The incident took place at Padriya Chet Singh village in Ruthauli Police Station area on August 26, and the dead body of the deceased Hindu boy was found the next day. The arrests were made following the post-mortem of Ankit that confirmed he was killed by strangulation.
जांच में पता चला कि इरफान और इरशाद की बहन की मृत्यु भी रहस्यमय परिस्थितियां में हुई थी जिसका अंतिम संस्कार भी इन्होंने कर दिया है। मृतक के परिजनों ने इरशाद, इरफान और उनके परिजनों पर अंकित की हत्या का आरोप लगाया है। मौके पर पुलिस बल तैनात है। मामले में कार्रवाई जारी है: ASP(27.08) pic.twitter.com/3rVO1NHZDx
— ANI_HindiNews (@AHindinews) August 29, 2022
Inspector General (Basti Range) Ram Krishna Bhardwaj said in a statement, “The post-mortem report of the 19-year-old Dalit youth stated that he died of throttling. No other injury mark except the strangulation mark was found on the youth’s body. The cause of the girl’s death could not be ascertained in the autopsy. There was no injury mark on her body. Her viscera has been preserved and will be sent to a laboratory for examination.”
A Police officer was quoted by Indian Express saying the girl might have died from consuming poison. “This will be corroborated after receiving the viscera report,” he said.
Additional Superintendent of Police (Basti) Deependra Nath Chaudhary said, “The three have confessed to killing the youth… During questioning, they told us that they killed the Dalit youth after they found him with their sister in the house. After killing him, they dragged his body to a nearby field.”
#BastiPolice थाना रुधौली क्षेत्र अंतर्गत ग्राम पड़रिया चेत सिंह में गन्ने के खेत में मिले शव के संबंध में अपर पुलिस अधीक्षक बस्ती द्वारा दी गई बाइट-@Uppolice @AdgGkr @digbasti pic.twitter.com/DEqhDy0A6D
— BASTI POLICE (@bastipolice) August 27, 2022
Hindu boy Ankit was called for a meeting
On August 26 (Friday), Ankit received a call from Ameena’s brothers, who asked him for a meeting. He left the house after receiving the call. When he did not return till late in the evening, his family members went to the girl’s house to ask about him. “The brothers told us that they had no information about Ankit. We immediately started looking for him. In the wee hours of Saturday, we came to know from the villagers that the girl had died, and the family was burying her dead body in the village,” Ankit’s elder brother said.
Suspecting foul play, Ankit’s family started looking for him near their house and found the body of Ankit just 100 metres away from their house. Ankit’s elder brother, who drove a tractor at the farm of the accused, said, “We found my brother’s body and immediately informed the police.” A complaint was filed by Ankit’s family based on which Ameena’s brothers and cousin were booked for murder (302) and destruction of evidence (201). The SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act has also been invoked against the three accused.
During the initial investigation, Police found that Ankit was in regular contact with the girl who belonged to an affluent family.
The area is Hindu-dominant, and everyone is in shock by the incident. Heavy Police forces have been deployed in the area to maintain law and order.
