BIJNOR:
While UP DGP has been maintaining that not a single bullet was fired by the cops while manning the violent mob of protestors during recent anti-CAA stir in the state, senior police officers of Bijnor have conceded that a civilian died after being shot by a constable in self defence.
This is the first such admission by any police authority after the violent protests against Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) which rocked the state last week leaving 16 people dead and scores injured including the cops in large number.
According to Bijnor SP Sanjeev Tyagi, Mohammad Suleman, 20, one of the two victims of violent protests which rocked Bijnor on last Friday, died due to the gun shot fired by constable Mohit Kumar in ‘self defence.’
The SP confirmed that constable Mohit Kumar fired from his service revolver while chasing the violent mob of protestors who had snatched the service revolver of sub-inspector Ashish and were firing indiscriminately at the cops.
The district police chief added that constable Mohit Kumar was also hit by a protestor’s bullet in his stomach. He was still critical and was being treated at a private hospital in Bijnor, maintained the SP. The bullet taken from Mohit Kumar’s stomach was found to be shot from a country-made weapon,” said Tyagi.
However, the cartridge retrieved from Suleman’s body was shot from the service pistol of Mohit Kumar.
As per the local sources, Suleman was the final year student of graduation. He was preparing for civil services at his maternal uncle Anwar Usmani’s place in Noida. He had come to stay with his parents in Nehtaur in Bijnor since he was down with high fever.
Mohit Kumar is attached with Bijnor Police’s Special Operation Group (SOG).
On Friday, he was deployed in Nehtaur police station area for security arrangement.
As many as 26 persons including 20 policemen were injured in the violence last Friday. While Suleman and another person Anas, 21, died, Mohit Kumar and three other policemen including Rajesh Singh Solanki, Station House Officer, Nehtaur police station, suffered bullet injuries.
The Nehtaur police station has lodged three FIRs based on Friday’s incidents, naming 35 persons and several others who remain unidentified.
The police, however, did not find any weapon on Suleman. They couldn’t even trace Sub-Inspector Ashish’s service revolver.
According to the SP, statements of other policemen, then present at the spot, and local residents to verify the information were recorded. “The investigation of the case is still on,” said Tyagi.
On the other, Suleman’s family has claimed that Suleman was not a part of the protests. His relatives have accused the cops of picking him up when he came out of a mosque after offering Friday Namaz. They claimed that police allegedly took him to a street and shot him. They also claimed that the Bijnor police took his body for an autopsy before handing it over to the family.
Suleman’s elder brother Shoaib Malik said he faxed a complaint on Monday to SP Sanjeev Tyagi, and Ramit Sharma, Inspector General, Moradabad Range, requesting an FIR be lodged into his brother’s murder. The police said they were yet to receive a complaint. The SP said that a thorough probe would be conducted into the matter if the family of the victim gives a complaint.