In Bijnaur, the police have arrested the main accused Suleiman and his brother yesterday for brutally stabbing a disabled cleaner early on Sunday morning. According to reports, police have also made strict security arrangements in the Najibabad area of the city anticipating communal clashes as tensions had escalated after the disabled cleaner named Naveen was attacked.
Early on Sunday morning, Naveen, a disabled young man, who is working as a temporary cleaning employee, was cleaning the streets near Jabtaganj area in Najibabad. At that time a resident of the area, Suleiman reportedly had an argument with Naveen and brutally attacked him repeatedly with a knife. After Naveen fell down bleeding, some people had informed the police and he was admitted to the district hospital. As his situation was critical, he was later shifted to Meerut.
The entire incident was reportedly recorded in CCTV. Protesting over the attack on their colleague, the cleaning staffers in the city had called for a strike. As Naveen’s attackers were Muslims, the incident also fanned communal tension in the area. The police were deployed in the Najibabad area to control any untoward incidents. Naveen is reportedly from the Valmiki Samaj. The videos of the incidents had gone viral in the local area and police personnel were deployed on strategic locations throughout the day and night to prevent communal clashes.
On Monday, taking clues from the CCTV footage, the police had arrested the main accused Suleiman and his brother from the nearby Charbag Nayi Basti. The sharp knife used to stab Naveen was also reportedly recovered from his residence. Seeing the flaring tensions between two communities in the region, ADG Prem Kumar reportedly camped in the area for the night while SDM Pankaj Varma and CO Arun Singh were patrolling the streets to oversee the situation.
After Suleiman and his brother Imran’s arrest, the tension in the area has reportedly reduced a little. Both the accused have reportedly been sent to police custody. However, the police have reportedly stated that both Suleiman and Imran were meat sellers and they are looking into the case to find out why they had attacked Naveen. Naveen’s condition has been stable and he has been recuperating in the hospital.
