RAIPUR: Chhattisgarh police have made their first arrest in the mob lynching case that claimed the lives of three minority youths, apprehending a 23-year-old suspect more than two weeks after the incident.
The accused, Harsh Mishra, a resident of the state capital city of Raipur who works in a retail cement shop, was arrested from Borsi in the neighboring Durg district.The arrest came on the 16th day after the incident as the police faced criticism, and members of the minority Muslim community staged a massive demonstration, demanding the immediate arrest of the accused involved in the lynching.
“One of the accused has been arrested, and the search for other accomplices is on,” said Kirtan Rathore, who is heading a 14-member team for the investigation into the incident. “We can’t say at this moment whether any cow vigilantes or other groups are involved. Investigations are in progress,” he told TOI.
The incident took place on the Mahanadi River bridge on June 7, where two youths were found dead on the river bed, while another person was found critically injured. Later, reports emerged that the youth, who were truckers hailing from Saharanpur in Uttar Pradesh, were transporting buffalo and they were intercepted allegedly by cow vigilantes.
After the first arrest, the police issued a careful statement saying, “It was found that on the night of 07.06.24, the deceased Chand Miya, son of Naushad Khan, aged 23, resident of Gram Lakhnauti, Thana Gango, Saharanpur District, UP, along with his companions Saddam Khan and Guddu Khan, were traveling in truck registration number CG/07/CG/3929, loaded with livestock, on the wrong side of the road from Mahasamund to Arang. Some individuals were chasing the truck with their vehicles, resulting in Chand Miya’s death and serious injuries to Guddu Khan and Saddam Khan, who were hospitalized but succumbed during treatment. Later, an FIR was lodged against unknown persons at Arang police station.”
Fearing arrest after the death of Saddam Khan during treatment, the accused Harsh Mishra had concealed himself in the room of a female friend near Durg Borsi, securing it from the outside. He was subsequently arrested by the SIT and charged under Sections 304, 308, and 34 of the IPC, after which a court remanded him to judicial custody, the police said.
The accused, Harsh Mishra, a resident of the state capital city of Raipur who works in a retail cement shop, was arrested from Borsi in the neighboring Durg district.The arrest came on the 16th day after the incident as the police faced criticism, and members of the minority Muslim community staged a massive demonstration, demanding the immediate arrest of the accused involved in the lynching.
“One of the accused has been arrested, and the search for other accomplices is on,” said Kirtan Rathore, who is heading a 14-member team for the investigation into the incident. “We can’t say at this moment whether any cow vigilantes or other groups are involved. Investigations are in progress,” he told TOI.
The incident took place on the Mahanadi River bridge on June 7, where two youths were found dead on the river bed, while another person was found critically injured. Later, reports emerged that the youth, who were truckers hailing from Saharanpur in Uttar Pradesh, were transporting buffalo and they were intercepted allegedly by cow vigilantes.
After the first arrest, the police issued a careful statement saying, “It was found that on the night of 07.06.24, the deceased Chand Miya, son of Naushad Khan, aged 23, resident of Gram Lakhnauti, Thana Gango, Saharanpur District, UP, along with his companions Saddam Khan and Guddu Khan, were traveling in truck registration number CG/07/CG/3929, loaded with livestock, on the wrong side of the road from Mahasamund to Arang. Some individuals were chasing the truck with their vehicles, resulting in Chand Miya’s death and serious injuries to Guddu Khan and Saddam Khan, who were hospitalized but succumbed during treatment. Later, an FIR was lodged against unknown persons at Arang police station.”
Fearing arrest after the death of Saddam Khan during treatment, the accused Harsh Mishra had concealed himself in the room of a female friend near Durg Borsi, securing it from the outside. He was subsequently arrested by the SIT and charged under Sections 304, 308, and 34 of the IPC, after which a court remanded him to judicial custody, the police said.
