Uttarakhand: Row Over ‘Death’ of Muslim Youth Near Roorkee Allegedly in Possession of Cow Meat

Dehradun: The ‘death’ of Wasim, a 22-year-old Muslim youth on August 25, amid charges of police torture and complicity with regard to allegations of possessing cow meat, has turned into a major controversy with Congress, the main Opposition party, for the first time in many years coming out openly and seeking a fair probe into the issue of a Muslim’s death.

A delegation of senior Congress leaders, including former Chief Minister Harish Rawat, Leader of Opposition in the Assembly, Yashpal Arya, Saharanpur Lok Sabha MP Imran Masood, Uttarakhand Congress chief Karan Mahra, vice-president Suryakant Dhasmana, legislators Pritam Singh, Furqan Ahmed, Qazi Nizamuddin also visited the home of the deceased in Madhopur village of Jhabreda area near Roorkee to pay their condolences.

On Wednesday evening, a delegation of Uttarakhand Congress comprising senior party leaders and legislators had met Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami to apprise him about the incident and seek a fair probe into the circumstances leading to the ‘death’ of the Muslim youth. According to Congress leaders, the Chief Minister assured them that he would look into the issue.

Leader of Opposition Arya and legislator Qazi Nizamuddin also met Director-General of Police (DGP) Abhinav Kumar on Wednesday, who was not available. They then met the ADGP and other senior police officers at the police headquarters here and demanded a fair inquiry into the death of the youth.

Interestingly, this is the first time that senior Congress leaders have come out openly in support of the minority community amid growing ‘Islamophobia’ in Uttarakhand. Earlier, Congress preferred to maintain a complete silence on issues involving Muslims, including ‘love jehad’, ‘land jehad’ and other kinds of allegations by the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh and Right- wing groups in the state since past many years.    

According to Haridwar police, a Muslim youth, who was running a gym, was “running” from a police party and jumped into the village pond and died of drowning. The police suspected him of carrying cow meat. A report lodged by police sub-inspector Sharad Singh stated that Wasim, who was chased by a cow protection unit of the police, was on a scooter and later jumped into the village pond to escape, but drowned and died. Later, the police team was surrounded by a crowd of 100 to 150 villagers who accused the police team of shooting and beating Wasim and then drowning him. The police charged villagers of obstructing their work by beating and abusing them and holding them hostage. Parminder Dobhal, Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP), Haridwar, claimed that the post-mortem confirmed “death by drowning” and no injuries were found on the youth’s body.

However, the villagers and family members of the deceased alleged that the deceased was brutally beaten up and had broken teeth. Qazi Nizamuddin, Congress legislator from Mangalore claimed that some villagers who tried to save from drowning were warned by the policemen and some others in plain clothes. These people threatened villagers with firearms if they dare try to save the drowning youth, he added.

Nizamuddin also alleged that the police had no answer to the fact that the deceased was badly injured and his both legs were tied with a rope. He said there were strong indications that the youth, held on the charges of cow slaughter, was brutally beaten and made to drown by police and alleged cow vigilantes.

“Only a fair magisterial probe will bring out the truth about the death of the youth,” said Karan Mahra, president of Uttarakhand Congress Committee.