Residents allege police torture, abuse

The locality houses around 300 Muslim families from Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Rajasthan and Haryana. Its occupants have been living in fear since that night. While the police released Zulifikar, they picked up other youths from the area, accusing them of being members of the gang involved in the dacoity.

Shamshad Ahmed, president of All India Muslim Council, Gulabi Bagh, says the police party used abusive language during the raid and said that they would throw all Muslims out of the state. Apart from Tibba Road, Muslim leaders said, Muslims youths were also picked from Sherpur and Rahon Road.

Aslam, a tailor who was picked up by a police party that raided his house at night, was produced by the residents before the SSP, Dinkar Gupta. Aslam said, “At around 3 a.m., some persons scaled down the boundary wall of my house. Before I could understand what had happened, they forced me into a waiting police Gypsy.” Aslam was released on Tuesday afternoon. He was unable to walk. Aslam said they stretched his legs. Then, one person sat on each of his legs and a third hit him with a leather belt.

The residents said that on Tuesday night, the police picked up ten-year-old Riyasat from the area. They said they also tried to pick up Begum, a pregnant woman, but withdrew after the residents protested. Abdul Shakeel, vice-president of the BSP, said that the police pulled Begum by the hair and slapped her a number of times. The residents said no women officials were accompanying the raiding party.

Shakeel said that they met the SHO, Kotwali, twice and asked him about the missing youths. Every time, he assured them that he would release the innocent persons, but no action has been taken as yet, he said.

Ahmed says the police had demanded Rs 2.5 lakhs to release the youths. “They (police officials) said once we paid the money they will stop pursuing the Muslim youths”.

SSP Gupta denied that Muslims youths were especially targeted. He said that four persons, including one named Kulwinder Singh, had been arrested and two country-made weapons were recovered from their possession. Gupta said they had committed a theft at a factory in Focal Point. They beat up the watchman and factory owners with pistol butts before escaping with Rs 50,000 and other goods from the factory.

Gupta said that Muslim houses were checked as the culprits had taken shelter there. He said some politicians were unnecessarily trying to blow up the issue and giving it a religious angle.

But Superintendent of Police P. S. Virk contradicted the SSP’s statement. He said he had ordered the release of the ten-year-old and is checking the antecedents of the other three persons. About the woman who was allegedly manhandled, he said that her friend Sidhakat, who possess two country-made weapons, is a wanted criminal. He denied any knowledge about the money demanded by police personnel.