The Ajmer police arrested six minor madrasa students on Sunday (12th May) for reportedly murdering Mohammadi Masjid’s imam, Maulana Mohammad Mahir (32), on April 27. Police also recovered Mohammed Mahir’s mobile phone and the rope that was allegedly used to strangle him.
As per the reports, all the students from Madarsa had been narrating a different story about the murder. The students claimed that three masked men arrived in the Madarsa, killed Mohammed Mahir, and threatened them to be quiet.
Ajmer SP Devendra Kumar Bishnoi stated that the case was a struggle for the Ajmer police special squad because nothing was emerging despite scanning hundreds of CCTV footage and investigating Mahir’s background, who was from Uttar Pradesh and had been residing in the Madarrsa for the past eight years. “But, we took students into confidence who slowly revealed everything,” he said.
“One of the students of the madrasa was recently sexually abused by Mahir who belongs to the Rampur village of Shahbad, Uttar Pradesh. When he threatened to reveal everything, Mahir lured him with money. Disturbed by his regular harassment, students decided to murder Mahir. They beat him severely with a stick and strangulated him to death with a rope,” Bishnoi added.
According to Bishnoi, students told police that they were outraged and angered over the Maulana because Mahir sexually abused students regularly.
As per the reports, two days before the murder, Mahir had returned from his village in Uttar Pradesh. On 26th April, the students purchased sleeping drugs from a medical shop, but Mahir had already had dinner outside. When he returned, students offered him curd and tablets.
After a while, Maulana fell asleep. Students went to the storeroom and retrieved a stick and rope. They hit his head with the stick while he was sleeping. He attempted to stand up, but they wrapped the rope around his neck and strangled him. He subsequently became unconscious. They left the room after confirming that his heartbeat had stopped.
However, the incident came to the fore only after Toshif Ashraf of the Madarsa filed a police complaint.
