A Muslim mob brutally killed Ram Gopal Mishra in the presence of police on 13th October in the Bahraich district of Uttar Pradesh during a visarjan procession of Goddess Durga’s idol. The accused dragged his body inside Abdul Hamid’s home after he was killed there. According to a viral video, his corpse was also attacked with stones and bullets as some people tried to bring down him from the roof. OpIndia interviewed the individual who removed the body. The youth’s name is Kishan Mishra and he is Ram Gopal’s cousin.
They studied and played together in childhood and grew up together. Kishan was assisted by Rajan Mishra in retrieving the body. We met Kishan in his village, Rehua, on 17th October. The entire village was under strict police surveillance at the time. However, he somehow managed to come out and speak to us. We spoke to him after dark as per his request.
Stone pelting by Muslims on one side, lathi charge by police on the other
Kishan Mishra recounted that chaos erupted, and simultaneously, the police launched a lathi charge on the procession. As a result, the devotees who had initially stayed together scattered, and the perpetrators dragged Ram Gopal into a house. When Kishan returned to rescue his cousin, he faced hostility from both sides: Muslims were throwing stones and firing shots, while the police continued their lathi-charge.
Kishan revealed that he repeatedly approached the authorities, informing them that Ram Gopal had been taken inside and urgently pleading for their help to rescue him. However, his appeals were ignored. With no response from the police, he decided to take matters into his own hands, attempting to save his cousin with the help of two companions, one of whom was his relative, Rajan Mishra. Kishan expressed the belief that Ram Gopal might still be alive today if the police had assisted the Hindus instead of using force against them.
They reached Abdul’s roof after opening the Hindu neighbour’s house
Kishan further explained that Ram Gopal was killed on the roof of Abdul Hamid’s house, which was difficult to access. The police action had caused a stampede, with crowds fleeing the lathi charge. Police officers were positioned in front, while the Muslim crowd hurled stones and fired bullets from behind. Given the chaotic situation, they decided to use the rooftops instead of the road to reach Ram Gopal. Abdul Hamid’s house was adjacent to a Hindu residence, which was opened after several requests. Kishan and Rajan then used that rooftop to cross over to Abdul Hamid’s place via another house’s roof.
Kishan disclosed that in such a short distance, he and Rajan had to constantly protect themselves from stones and gunfire. When Kishan arrived at Abdul Hamid’s roof, Ram Gopal was lying there in an unconscious state. The Muslim mob targeted him and Rajan Mishra as soon as they lifted the body by holding his hands and legs. Abdul Hamid’s son Sarfaraz was leading the attack. He fired shots at them and Ram Gopal’s body while hiding behind the wall.
Sarfaraz dropped his gun after they threw a brick
According to Kishan Mishra, Sarfaraz’s initial shot did not strike the target otherwise his body would have also been discovered at Abdul Hamid’s home like that of his cousin. After the initial shooting, Kishan and Rajan placed the body on the ground and hurled a brick towards Sarfaraz from the roof. It, fortunately, hit him and the gun dropped from his grasp. Kishan and Rajan had already taken out Ram Gopal before Sarfaraz regained his balance and prepared to fire again.
Kishan mentioned that Sarfaraz, his father Abdul Hamid and his brothers Talib and Faheem were actively participating in the violence. They were throwing stones along with the Muslim throng while Sarfaraz was busy firing bullets. He added that the commotion created by the devotees outside the house was distracting the attackers otherwise he and Rajan would have also been killed by Abdul Hamid and his associates, just like Ram Gopal.
Conspiracy to make the body disappear
Kishan highlighted that Abdul Hamid and his gang had planned to make Ram Gopal’s body disappear. He stated that the case likely would have been of a missing person if he and Rajan had not brought the deceased out of Abdul Hamid’s house. The police would have also claimed that Ram Gopal was not murdered but disappeared somewhere and all the culprits could have escaped from the purview of law.
Kishan Mishra told us that all the houses of the Muslim community including Abdul Hamid living in Maharajganj have a stock of sharp weapons and illegal guns. He believes that his cousin’s body would have been cut into pieces and disposed of somewhere. He voiced that Ram Gopal would have then become a mystery to the world and it would have been declared that he had fled to some other region due to his name being involved in the violence and did not return.
People continued to run while carrying the body
Despite his pleas, Kishan charged that the cops refused to lend him a car to take Ram Gopal to the hospital after he came out of Abdul Hamid’s house with the body. The Hindu devotees who had been struck with lathis (batons) continued to run with the body for a considerable distance on the road leading to the hospital. OpIndia has a video of this incident in which a policeman is also seen. Somehow he was able to reach the hospital where the doctors pronounced Ram Gopal dead.
Kishan feels Ram Gopal’s life would have been spared if the police had dispatched a car right away to accompany him. Additionally, he informed us that he has complained to Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath about the conduct of the police. Kishan Mishra started to cry as he spoke with us. In the end, he shared that the killers had taken away both his best friend and his cousin. Kishan added that he would not have regretted it if he had passed away alongside Ram Gopal. The duo used to work together as cooks in catering.
