ROURKELA: Police have arrested nine persons for the murder of a miscreant Dilshad Khan whose funeral was attended by a massive crowd in brazen violation of Covid-19 guidelines.On Friday, the nine accused were produced in court and remanded to judicial custody. Without divulging the identity of the accused persons, Rourkela SP K Shiva Subramani three more persons involved in the murder are at large.Subramani said previous enmity was the reason behind Khan’s murder. Khan had organised a party at Kalunga in 2018 during which he assaulted one of the invitees and his brother. Since then, the victims were nursing a grudge against Khan and waiting for an opportunity to eliminate him.
On June 7, 33-year-old Khan was partying with his acquaintances at the playground in Railway Colony within Plant Site police limits when the siblings and their accomplices arrived at the spot all of a sudden at around 8.15 pm and attacked him. Khan was assaulted with iron rods and sticks which led to his death. This was the third attempt on his life and previous two bids had failed.
The SP said the accused persons were arrested during the course of investigation. The funeral procession of Khan, which was taken out on June 8 evening, lasted for around 90 minutes and was attended by 2,000 persons without wearing masks and adhering to social distance norms.
The funeral procession originated from the Rourkela city’s Covid-19 epicentre and passed through the highly-congested AB Lane, part of Rourkela main road and Plant Site Lane in front of the local police station.Police have registered a case under Sections 269 and 34 of the IPC and Section 3 of the Epidemic Act and investigation is underway to identify the persons who violated Covid-19 guidelines during the funeral.
VHP criticises police inaction
Rourkela: A day after Rourkela Bar Association criticised the police inaction during the massive funeral procession in the city’s Covid-19 hotspot, the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) on Friday demanded stringent measures to prevent similar violations in future. A VHP delegation led by State working president Sarbeswar Dash handed over a memorandum to Rourkela ADM Aboli Sunil Naravane in this regard. Dash said thousands of people belonging to the minority community were allowed to take out funeral procession of a criminal in an area which has reported many coronavirus cases, thereby giving rise to the threat of community spread. Accusing police of deliberately going soft on those who attended the funeral, he said strict action should be taken against the violators.