Nuh police refused to act, turned duo away, say kin

Geetanjali Gayatri

Chandigarh, February 17

The Nuh police in Haryana are in the dock after the charred bodies of two Rajasthan villagers, Nasir and Junaid, were found in a burnt Bolero at Loharu in Bhiwani. Family members of the deceased alleged that the Nuh police refused to initiate action when the two were taken to the police station, saying it was a “Rajasthan Police matter”. The latter have, meanwhile, arrested one person and detained six.

Editorial: Cow vigilantism

Jahul Haq, a relative, said: “Had the Nuh police not turned them away, the two, abducted from the village, could have been alive. We went to the police station in Ferozpur Jhirka only to be told that the injured duo was sent away since it was a Rajasthan matter. We were told that the police did not want to take the blame since they were already critically injured.”

‘Rajasthan matter’

• Kin say Nuh police turned the battered duo away stating it was a “Rajasthan matter”
• Allege police did not want to ‘take the blame’ since they were already critically injured

SP assures of action

The Rajasthan Police are investigating the matter. If any negligence is found on the part of the Nuh police, action will be taken. Varun Singla, Nuh SP

Nuh SP Varun Singla said the Rajasthan Police were investigating the matter. “We are cooperating with them. If their investigation finds any negligence on the part of the Nuh police, as is being alleged by the families of the deceased, action will be taken against those responsible.”

Meanwhile, recounting their ordeal as they searched for the “missing men” who had allegedly been abducted by members of a cow vigilante group from a village in Rajasthan’s Bharatpur, Haq said, “I got a call from Junaid’s wife saying that his phone was switched off and she was getting worried. Nasir’s uncle, Ismail, and a few villagers set out with me in search of them. We heard that they had been beaten up, abducted and taken to Nuh.”

The first stop the villagers made was at the hospital where they got to know that the injured men had been taken to the police station in a Bolero, which had all its windows smashed. “We were told that the duo had many broken bones and were in pain. We went to the police station hoping to find them. However, to our shock, we were told that since it was a case from Rajasthan, they had been sent away,” he said.

Failing to find any other leads, the villagers returned to their village and got an FIR registered in Gopalgarh. “The men went missing on Tuesday. We were informed on Wednesday and we got a case registered in Rajasthan after failing to find them,” Haq said.

Another villager, Ishaq said, “I went to get the bodies from Loharu. They were identified from the vehicle. The Haryana Police, after tracing the ownership from the chasis number, called up Nasir’s uncle. He told them that his nephew had taken the vehicle. That is when the police told him that two charred bodies had been found in Loharu.” While Nasir and Junaid’s parents are already dead, the villagers said they were drivers and the sole breadwinners of the family. “Nasir leaves behind a wife while his two brothers are also drivers. Junaid leaves behind a wife and six children. His daughter is of marriageable age. His brother, with a wife and six children, was also Junaid’s responsibility since he is mentally unstable,” said Ali Mohammad of the same village.

The villagers said with the burial over and the government committing a compensation of Rs 20.5 lakh each to both families in addition to a government job, they were hopeful the families would be able to tide over the difficult times.