MUZAFFARNAGAR: A 20-year-old motor mechanic, who was until late Friday evening only identified as Sameer, was killed by a group of men after his arm brushed against a man at a bus stand at Banat in Shamli.
He was allegedly slapped, beaten up, dragged through the street and his head slammed on the road. He died on his way to a hospital. Eight men have been booked for murder and rioting, and the main accused arrested.
Sameer was the sole earning member of his family, looking after his mother, two minor brothers and an elder sister, after his father, Rahil, a labourer, died two years ago.
Sameer was on his way home on Thursday evening when the incident was reported. “Our kid got off the bus at the stand. About eight men were around. His arm brushed against one of theirs. They hurled abuses at him. That escalated,” said his uncle Adil. A member of the nagar panchayat of Banat, Ikram Ali, said, “From what I found out, the main accused, Vatan Raj, and Sameer had a heated argument.”
Adil’s complaint to the police, on the basis of which an FIR was lodged at the Adarsh Mandi police station, said, “They beat him up with sticks and iron rods, and then slammed his head on the road over and over ... When they thought he was dead, they ran away.”
Shamli SP Sukirti Madhav said, “He was taken to the Shamli community health centre, from where he was referred to Muzaffarnagar. He died on the way … The deceased and the accused knew one another and lived in the same area.”
Adil named eight people who allegedly beat Sameer to death in his complaint — Vatan, Vardan, Akshay, Raj, Ashish, Lucky, Chintu and Bhonda. “Vatan has been arrested. We are trying to get hold of the seven others,” SP Madhav said. Police are going over CCTV footage from the bus stand and nearby areas to identify those who killed Sameer.
