NEW DELHI: A notice has been issued by the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) to the Railways and the Haryana Government in connection with the Junaid Khan mob lynching incident, on Wednesday.
Addressing the media, petitioner Shehzad Poonawalla, who had filed a PIL with the NHRC, said that he had written a letter to the NHRC on Junaid’s mob lynching case as “the State police and Government Railway Police (GRP) were not investigating the matter seriously. He also said that the PIL also mentioned the cow vigilantes or “gau rakshaks.”
Following this, a notice has been issued to the Chairman of Railway Board, the Chief Secretary Government of Haryana and the Director General of police (DGP) Haryana.
“The petitioner has alleged killing of a minority community youth travelling in a train and inaction by State authorities. Let a Notice be issued to the Chariman, Railway Board, Government of India, Rail Bhavan, New Delhi, Chief Secretary, Government of Haryana and DGP, Haryana, calling for report within four weeks,” the notice read.
Speaking to ANI, Poonawalla said that his main demand is that each involved in the mob be arrested, as only seven to eight have been arrested so far.
“The CCTV footage should have been with the Railways, which they have not received, which is why the investigation is going so slowly,” he said.
He further added that the police members should have been present at the time of the incident and it is due to their “negligence” that Junaid was killed.
“There should be a lawful investigation into this as well,” he added.
He said that one of his demands is that the poor family of Junaid be given Rs. 1 crore as compensation.
The letter written by Poonawalla had four demands, one of which was, “The NHRC must seek report from the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) and the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) against rising attacks against the Muslims, the Dalits and the minorities which reflect a trend of Islamophobia since 2014 and must direct the MHA and all state police chiefs to take appropriate steps against rise of such hate crimes against the Muslims.”
"I hope that these increasing cases of mob lynching slow down and the authorities take necessary actions. I hope that the Central Government also takes action, especially towards these increasing cases of Islamophobia in the country and the culprits are booked immediately,” he added.
The letter was written regarding the increasing cases of mob lynching in India, especially after the death of fifteen-year-old Junaid Khan’s, where a mob had attacked him and his brothers on a moving train, resulting in Junaid’s death.