Two men transporting cattle were found dead after allegedly being chased by unidentified people in Chhattisgarh’s Raipur district early Friday, police said. While police said the men were found lying on rocks below a bridge, the family of one of the victims alleged they had been lynched. A third person who was with them was found with injuries and has been hospitalised, police said. The dead have been identified as Guddu Khan, 35, and Chand Miya Khan, 23, and the injured as Saddam Qureshi, 23. Qureshi and Chand were cousins and residents of Saharanpur district in Uttar Pradesh, while Guddu hailed from UP’s Shamli district. The Raipur police have registed a suo motu FIR for culpable homicide not amounting to murder and murder attempt against unknown persons. A 14-member special team has been formed to probe the death of two cattle transporters found dead after allegedly being chased by unidentified people, the police said. “Based on our investigation so far, we have registered an FIR under Section 304 (culpable homicide), 307 (murder attempt) and 34(act done with common intention) of IPC,” SSP, Raipur, Santosh Singh said. The FIR was registered based on information provided by a relative of the victims. Police in Arang, under whose jurisdiction the incident took place, also said they will record Qureshi’s statement to better understand what transpired. He is currently critical. “We received information that they were being chased by some people, after which they were found lying below the Mahanadi bridge. On receiving the information, our team rushed to the spot. While one of them had died, two were rushed to a hospital in Mahasamund, where another succumbed. The third is in a serious condition at a hospital in Raipur city,” said Kirtan Rathore, Additional Superintendent of Police, Raipur district. “A vehicle was found on the bridge with cattle. The post-mortem report of the two men is awaited. We are checking CCTV footage along the route. Till now, we have no evidence to say it’s a case of mob lynching. Efforts are being made to identify those who chased the trio,” he said. Asked if the bodies had external injuries, Rathore said, “Yes, but they fell off the bridge from a height of around 30 feet and landed on stones. For us, it’s difficult to identify whether all injuries were caused by the fall or some were inflicted before falling. Only doctors can clarify how the injuries were caused.” Speaking to The Indian Express, a cousin of Qureshi and Chand claimed the duo made calls back home between 2 am and 4 am on Friday, while they were allegedly being assaulted. According to him, one of the calls, by Qureshi, lasted 47 minutes, during which he could be heard screaming for help, pleading that he not be assaulted, and asking for water. The cousin claimed the first phone call was received around 2 am from Chand, who said their vehicle had been stopped and they were being beaten. The second call was from Qureshi, around 3 am, he said, adding that around 5 am, a police official answered Chand’s phone and informed the family he was dead. “Qureshi was a helper. He called and kept the phone in his pocket. He was screaming that his hand and leg were broken. He was pleading, ‘bhaiya paani pila do ek ghoot. Maro mat bas paani pila do (give me a sip of water, please don’t beat me)’,” he claimed. “We could also hear some men ask him, ‘kahan se laaye ho… chodenge nahi (where did you bring it from… we will not spare you)’.” “Before this, Chand called briefly. He said their vehicle had been waylaid and they were being assaulted. Then someone snatched his phone. We did not call the police at the time since we didn’t think it would go to such an extent. We kept calling Chand’s number but he did not pick up. Finally, around 5 am, a police official picked up and said he was dead. We had no idea what work they had gone for; we just knew Chand is a driver,” he claimed. Asked about the cousin’s claims, Rathore said, “We have no such information till now. We will check the call detail records to find out who all the victims spoke to and record their statements. We will also record the statement of family members.”
