‘Assaulted, thrown off train’: Family of Bihar cleric found dead in Bareilly allege foul play

In the purported audio recording, the victim is heard telling his wife, Tabassum, that some people were harassing him inside the train and that he’d informed the police.

In a video circulating on social media, Tabassum alleged that her husband had called her, saying some people had caught him and were assaulting him on the train. She said she urged him to seek help from fellow passengers, but he told her that they were accusing him of being a thief.

Tabassum, in the video, said her husband was travelling to Siwan from Bareilly. She further claimed that police initially informed the family that he had slipped and fallen from the train, along with his luggage.

Superintendent of Police, Bareilly, Manush Pareek, said when the body was handed over to the family after the post-mortem, no suspicion of foul play was raised and they agreed with the police’s preliminary conclusion that the cleric had died after accidentally falling from a moving train. “We are in contact with the deceased’s family and will take appropriate action in the matter soon,” said the SP.

The incident

According to police, on the morning of April 27, they received information through the railway police about a body found lying near the tracks close to Palpur Fatak, under the Cantonment police station in Bareilly.

During an initial examination, police said they recovered documents from the deceased’s belongings, including an Aadhaar card, which helped establish his identity and contact his family.

Police further stated that the post-mortem examination revealed a lacerated wound on the victim’s head, which they earlier suspected may have been caused when he struck a pole after falling. The exact sequence of events remains under review as fresh allegations are examined, they said.

Speaking to The Indian Express on Saturday, Alam said his nephew had travelled to Bareilly to attend an Urs festival in the city.

“… On the evening of April 26, he boarded the Muzaffarpur Special Fare Summer Special train from Bareilly for Siwan.” He claimed Raza was talking to his wife when a young man allegedly began misbehaving with him.

“He told his wife during the call that someone was harassing him and that conversation was recorded on his phone. His wife also switched to a video call… but she was unable to capture the image of the person harassing Tauseef,” he claimed.

Alam added that “the family has a 36-second audio recording and a 2.63-minute video call related to the incident. We are coming to Bareilly tomorrow to get a case lodged into the matter”.

Asked why they didn’t tell police initially that Raza was being harassed, Alam said: “Tabassum and the rest of the family were in shock and not in a condition to explain anything… Later, after returning to Bihar, we checked Tauseef’s phone and found the recordings.”

Alam said his nephew had married Tabassum about two years ago.