Moradabad lynching over ‘cattle slaughter’: Victim’s aide held, no arrest in murder case

“We took suo motu cognisance and registered an FIR against Qureshi and Mohammad Adnan (29) for cow slaughter,” said Majhola Station House Officer Mohit Chaudhary. “One FIR was registered on the complaint by his brother, Mohammad Shahjad, under BNS section 103 (murder) against unidentified people. The second by Majhola police for cow slaughter.”

Chaudhary said Adnan had fled the spot after locals found them slaughtering an ox in the early hours of December 30.

Qureshi was admitted to the Moradabad district hospital with critical injuries. He succumbed to his injuries at 4.30 pm on Monday, police said.

In the case of Qureshi’s killing, the investigation is underway. “As of now we have not been able to arrest anybody,” said Additional Superintendent of Police Kumar Ran Vijay Singh. Another police officer said they had collected video footage and were working to identify those involved in the assault.

Singh claimed that Adnan admitted to killing an ox during interrogation. “He said that people nearby saw them and attacked them but he ran away,” he said.

Qureshi’s wife, Rizwana, 35, said that Qureshi had left early on Monday.

“I am a heart patient. I woke up at 2 am to take my medicine as usual. At 3 am, my husband got ready to head out. He told me that he was going for some work and would be back soon so I went back to sleep,” she recalled.

Two hours later, she started calling her husband, but got no answer.

“After an hour, someone called me back from his phone and informed me that they had found this phone at Majhola Mandi. I could not understand what happened so I came to my brother’s home to ask him to look for my husband,” she said.

At around 11 am, she said, the police reached their home and informed the family that Qureshi was admitted to the hospital.

“When we reached the hospital, he was bleeding from his nose, his left eye was swollen and he was gasping for breath,” said Masooma Jamal, 43, Qureshi’s sister-in-law.

Jamal said they took him to a private hospital, where he was declared dead on arrival.

“This was no age to die. Is the value of human life so less today? Even if he killed an animal, they could have called the police. He could have been in jail, but why did people beat him up so badly that he died,” asked Jamal.

“Who will look after me? My children are so young, my in-laws are dead, where will I go?” said Rizwana.

Family members said Qureshi made a living by transporting goods on rented hand carts, earning around `15,000 a month. They said he had to pause his work six months ago owing to health issues, including diabetes and kidney ailments, forcing his two teenage sons to support the family. Rizwana and Qureshi also have a 10-year-old daughter.

“While he was being treated, his two sons, Arhan, 15, and Afi, 14, took up jobs at a tailor shop to support the family,” said Waris Jamal, 28, Qureshi’s nephew.

“I have studied till 8th class, but once my Abbu fell ill, we could not manage the fees,” Arhan said.

Police, however, said Adnan told them that he had accompanied Qureshi to Majhola Mandi for `500 to “catch a stray cattle and slaughter it”.

When The Indian Express visited the spot on Wednesday evening, it was dark and quiet with no passersby. Nearly 100 metres away is a small tea shop where truck drivers and locals gather. “At around 3:30 am, when one of them having tea at the local shop heard the sound of a bovine animal, they rushed and held the two. Someone called our emergency number and within seven minutes, our team reached the spot,” said Majhola Mandi SHO Devendra Kumar. Kumar said that after reaching the spot they dispersed the crowd and took Qureshi to the district hospital.