“Hatred” for Bajrang Dal after the Nasir-Junaid murder, rumours that cow vigilante Monu Manesar would attend the Brajmandal Jalabhishek Yatra: This is what spurred the mob to attack yatris and police on July 31, claimed the chargesheet filed by Nuh Police in connection with the deaths of two home guards during the July 31 violence, it is learnt. Three Nuh residents were named as accused in this case — Sohil Khan (20), Shokeen (26) and Osama (30) — who face charges of murder, among other sections of the IPC and Arms Act, as per the chargesheet filed on November 24 in the court of Chief Judicial Magistrate, Nuh. The chargesheet states that the home guards, Neeraj and Gursevak, had reached Anaj Mandi near Nuh Cybercrime police station when a huge crowd surrounded them with weapons. The mob pelted stones and opened fire at the group, which hit the officers and shattered the windows of their vehicle. The vehicle overturned after hitting rocks on the road. The crowd dispersed after police opened fire in the air. The injured officers were sent to a hospital, among them Neeraj to Medanta and Gursevak to Sohna Civil Hospital, and both were declared dead on arrival. Police recovered two mobile phones from Sohil after his arrest. When call detail records and locations of the phones were checked, it showed he was in Nuh on July 31. On October 16, Osama was taken on production remand, and police recovered a Thar vehicle. The vehicle had sticks, a liquid substance in a 2-litre bottle, a glass Coca-Cola bottle, and bamboo sticks. In his disclosure statement, the chargesheet says, Osama cited Junaid-Nasir’s murder for his “hatred” of Bajrang Dal and that he posted an audio asking members of a WhatsApp group to be “prepared” for the yatra. “If it’s police who come in our path, they won’t be spared. We took our uncle’s Thar jeep and brought sticks, a plastic bag with stones, and glass bottles with petrol. As per the plan, I met (two people) at Adbar Chowk who had cut the CCTV connection and destroyed the cameras. We left for Tiranga Chowk,” he claimed, as per the chargesheet. “I asked my friend to come to the Cybercrime police station with a bus. We rammed the station’s gate, vandalised and looted the station, and set vehicles inside on fire. When other police officers came to support the force, we pelted stones and attacked staff with lathis. Later, we climbed the Aravallis and pelted stones,” he further alleged, as per the chargesheet. As per the chargesheet, Sohil, in his disclosure statement, mentioned Junaid and Nasir’s murder allegedly by cow vigilantes in February was behind the enmity between locals and Bajrang Dal, which had organised the yatra. “. On July 30, I recorded a video with my friend (and uploaded it online) asking Monu not to come for the yatra and said riots would follow and he would be chased if he attended. The next day, we heard Monu had come and we plotted to assemble with 700-800 others armed with lathis, sticks, stones, and illegal weapons. We started vandalising their vehicles and when police came to protect them, we pelted stones. and opened fire. We. pelted stones at police vehicles at Anaj Mandi. Shokeen opened fire, resulting in officers getting trapped inside the service vehicle. I opened fire at them with an intent to kill and later, snatched wallets and phones of officers,” he alleged, says the chargesheet. In a second statement, the chargesheet says, Sohil alleged he set a police vehicle (white Scorpio) on fire with a Molotov cocktail. Further, the chargesheet states that the police vehicle was damaged: its mirrors broken; seats, radiator, engine, and roof damaged; and the airbag of the driver’s seat had inflated. The post-mortem report of the deceased home guards states that the cause of death was multiple injuries and complications following ante-mortem blunt force impact. The injured officers’ MLC showed that some of them suffered from a history of assault after the vehicle toppled. Around 15 more accused were identified while charges were pressed against the three.
