Man lynched in UP’s Aligarh over theft suspicion; 6 held

Personnel from three police stations have been deployed in and around the spot and more force has been requisitioned in view of palpable tension. Shopkeepers in the Mama Bhanja locality, where the incident took place and at the Railway Bazar downed shutters on Wednesday in protest.

“An FIR under IPC section 302 (murder) was registered at the Gandhi Park police station late on Tuesday night in this connection. We have arrested six persons named in the FIR so far and are trying to identify others involved in the incident through available video footage. No one will be spared,” said Mrigank Shekhar Pathak, Superintendent of Police, Aligarh city.

According to the police, the man was attacked after he was seen coming out of the home of Mukesh Chand Mittal, a textile trader, and running towards the main gate on Tuesday night. As Mittal’s son Rohit, who had stepped out to see off a visiting friend, confronted the stranger and raised an alarm, he fell off the stairs and was soon overpowered by members of the Mittal family and others who assembled there, the police said.

In videos of the incident doing the rounds on social media, the man is seen being beaten up with lathis, punched and kicked by the mob.

The man is seen being dragged on the road by the mob in one of the videos. A police officer could be later seen carrying an injured Farid on his shoulders to a hospital, where the doctors declared him dead on arrival.

As word about Farid’s death spread, his family members along with Abdul Hamid Ghosi, chief of the SP’s Aligarh unit, BSP mayoral poll contestant Salman Shahid and SP leader Ajju Ishaq with their supporters reached the Aligarh district hospital and created a ruckus.

“An innocent man has been lynched by members of a different community and others who painted him as a thief, while the fact is that he had mistakenly entered the house. The incident highlights the plight of the minority communities under the Yogi Adityanath government in Uttar Pradesh. We have called for a sit-in and will intensify our protest if all those named in the FIR are not arrested soon,” said Ajju Ishaq, the SP leader.

At the same time, dozens of Bajrang Dal volunteers led by the outfit’s local unit convener, Gaurav Sharma, thronged the site and claimed that the deceased had entered the house to steal.

“Though I do not justify mob lynching, those trying to protect a thief should remember clearly that UP is still ruled by Yogi Adityanath, whose government has zero tolerance for crime. Do not forget that bulldozers had razed properties of such elements and these (bulldozers) will roar again on streets to teach criminals a lesson,” said Gaurav Sharma.

While there is heavy police deployment in affected localities, mainly in Mama Bhanja locality and Railway Road area, there were reports of sporadic incidents of brick pelting between groups belonging to different communities. As a precautionary measure, the Aligarh police have divided two localities in eight sectors, each headed by a Magistrate, to ensure peace.

“We have deployed enough police force to ensure peace in the area. The body has been buried and our officers are in touch with both groups to ensure that nothing untoward may happen,” said Shalabh Mathur, Inspector General (IG) of Aligarh police range.