Muzaffarnagar: Nearly a month after Saharanpur police picked up a 40-year-old farmer from a Deoband village over allegations of cow slaughter and later claimed that he had accidentally shot himself in the leg while trying to flee and “died out of fear”, the deputy inspector general of police (DIG) has ordered a probe into the matter.
The DIG (Saharanpur zone) has asked Muzaffarnagar police to lead the investigation following a request by the man’s cousin, Syed Isa Raza — who held a state minister rank in the former Samajwadi Party government — that the inquiry should not be handed to Saharanpur police to ensure a fair probe. The districts of Saharanpur, Muzaffarnagar and Shamli are under the jurisdiction of DIG (Saharanpur zone).
On September 5, police had raided Thitki village after a tip-off on alleged cow slaughter. After the raid, police had informed Raza that his cousin, Mohd Zeeshan, had tried to escape and accidentally shot himself in his leg.
Station house officer of Deoband police station, Yogesh Sharma, maintained that Zeeshan was carrying a country-made pistol. “He shot himself in the leg and died after reaching the hospital,” he told TOI.
Raza, however, said his brother had two licensed guns and had no need for a country-made pistol. “Two police personnel came to my home after the raid and told me that my cousin was involved in cow slaughtering and had shot himself in the leg while trying to escape. They said that he seemed to have died out of fear," said Raza, who held the post of advisor in sahkarita vibhag (cooperative department) in the Akhilesh Yadav government.
Zeeshan’s wife, Afroz, alleged that he was beaten to death. In a police complaint, she said that three police personnel, including three sub-inspectors, had beaten Zeeshan to death after picking him from home.
“On the day of the raid, he had told me he was being taken in for questioning. He never returned,” she told TOI, adding that her husband was a “respected person”. “We do farming on 40 bighas of land. He had no involvement in illegal activities or cow slaughter. I’m now left alone to take care of our three children,” said the 38-year-old.
Superintendent of police (city) Muzaffarnagar, Arpit Vijayvargiya, said they have started investigating the matter.
