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Journalism of Courage
Cleric found dead on railway tracks in Bareilly: Wife alleges murder, cops lodge FIR
In her complaint, the victim’s wife said she allegedly saw several people brutally attacking her husband on a video call
The deceased, Maulana Tauseef Raza from Kishanganj district, was an imam at a mosque in Siwan. (Express Photo)
Days after the body of a 30-year-old cleric, Tauseef Raza, was found on the railway tracks in Uttar Pradesh’s Bareilly, police said they have lodged an FIR under sections of murder based on a complaint by his wife.
In her complaint, Raza’s wife, Tabassum Khatoon, alleged that some passengers in his coach brutally assaulted him and threw him from the moving train, killing him, and making it appear like an accident.
“We have registered the case and have begun the investigation,” said Circle Officer, Government Railway Police, Anil Kumar Verma.
Raza, who was from Bihar’s Kishanganj district, was an imam at a mosque in Siwan. He had travelled to Bareilly to attend the Urs.
According to police, the complainant said that on April 26, after attending the festival, her husband boarded a train from Bareilly Junction to Siwan.
Around 9.45 pm, he called her and said that some people in the train coach were assaulting him without any reason. He asked her to contact someone known to them in Bareilly and to inform the police. On hearing this, she claimed to have switched on the video call mode on her phone and allegedly saw several people brutally attacking her husband, police added.
Soon after, her husband’s phone was switched off.
In her complaint, Khatoon claimed she kept trying to call him but could not reach him, after which she informed her family about the incident. The next morning, she claimed she tried her husband’s phone again and the call was answered by police personnel, who told her her husband’s condition was critical.
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Later, when her family members contacted the police, they were told that Raza had died. Two family members then travelled to Bareilly and brought his body home for the last rites.
She said her husband was the family’s sole breadwinner. Khatoon also claimed to have recorded a 30-second audio clip and a 2-minute 53-second video call recording of the incident.
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