Uttar Pradesh: Hindu Yuva Vahini activists accused of lynching Muslim man in Bulandshahr

Activists of the Hindu Yuva Vahini (HYV) allegedly beat up a 45-year-old Muslim man to death at the Sohi village in Pahasu in Bulandshahr, Uttar Pradesh, on Tuesday, May 2. A First Information Report (FIR) was filed against six activists of the HYV outfit, three of whom were arrested on Wednesday, May 3.

Ghulam Mohammad, the victim who hailed from the Sohi village in Pahasu, was dragged to an isolated spot and beaten to death because the alleged right-wing attackers wanted to know about the whereabouts of his relative Yusuf, who had allegedly kidnapped an 18-year-old Hindu girl from Fazalpur village on April 27. Yusuf has been on the run since a week.

Mohammad's son has alleged that the HYV activists were involved in the death of his father, the local media reported. Additional District Magistrate (ADM) Arvind Kumar Mishra said the activists, who allegedly attacked Mohammad, saw him in his mango orchard before dragging him to a seculded spot to commit the crime. 

"Ghulam's son Yaseen has alleged that while he was walking towards their orchard to meet his father, he saw Gavendra Singh — a resident of their village — and six others leaving the orchard on motorcycles... He claimed that when he entered the orchard, he found his father lying injured. He raised an alarm and locals rushed Ghulam to the hospital, where doctors declared him brought dead on arrival," Shikarpur police Circle Officer Vijay Prakash was quoted by the Indian Express as saying.

Additional Superintendent of Police (Rural) Jagdish Sharma said: "Wakeel (the victim's older son) has alleged that members of Hindu Yuva Vahini killed his father. He, however, has not mentioned the motive behind the murder." Bulandshahr Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Muniraj G said the police were "trying to verify if Ghulam Mohammad's murder has any connection to the case of abduction of a girl lodged against Yusuf of Sohi village."

Meanwhile, HYV's Bulandshahr district president Sunil Raghav has denied the involvement of any of the outfit's members in the murder. He said: "No office-bearer or worker of the organisation is involved in today's murder. Gavendra Singh, who has been named in the murder case, is not a member of Hindu Yuva Vahini. Some opponents are deliberately dragging our organisation into the case to malign its image."

SSP Muniraj said an FIR was filed against Yusuf at the Pahasu Police Station on April 27 for allegedly kidnapping a Hindu girl from Fazalpur village located close to Sohi. The police had formed a team to trace the alleged kidnapper, the SSP added.