5 Bahraich violence accused arrested, two of them injured in encounter
BAHRAICH/LUCKNOW The Uttar Pradesh Police on Thursday arrested five men in connection with communal violence in Bahraich four days ago, and shot and injured two of them in an encounter, adding a dramatic twist to the case where sectarian riots led to the death of a 22-year-old man.
UP director general of police Prashant Kumar said two of the five men –– who are accused of fomenting communal tension during a Durga Puja immersion procession on Sunday and killing 22-year-old Gopal Mishra –– were trying to flee to Nepal when the encounter happened.
“When the police were taking the five arrested accused for weapons recovery near the India-Nepal border, the two accused tried to run away. As they tried to flee, shots were fired. Mohammed Sarfaraz and Mohammed Talib were injured. Abdul Hameed, Fahim, and Abdul Afzal were arrested. A total of five accused were arrested. The situation is under control,” he said.
The injured were undergoing treatment at the Bahraich Medical College.
Police officers said the encounter took place near Handa Basehari canal on bypass road, close to the India-Nepal border.
Those arrested were identified as Mohammad Faheem, Mohammad Sarfaraz and Abdul Hameed, who are named accused in the FIR, and two others, Mohammad Taleem alias Sabloo and Mohammad Afzal, said the DGP.
Violence and arson rocked Bahraich district in Uttar Pradesh on Monday, a day after Mishra was shot dead and four people injured during Durga Puja idol immersion, amid allegations that the clashes were stoked by inflammatory songs during the procession in Muslim-dominated areas, stone-pelting from the houses in the locality, and a bid to take down a green flag.
“A total of five people, who are the main accused in the case, have been arrested. A short exchange of fire took place in which two people were injured. The injured are Sarfaraz and Mohammad Talib. The injured have been taken to the hospital,” said Amitabh Yash, additional director general (law and order), special task force. Superintendent of police (Bahraich) Vrinda Shukla said the police took all five named accused in Mishra’s murder into custody.
The incident led to the Opposition attacking the Yogi Adityanath-led government. Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav termed the incident a “failure of the government”.
“In Uttar Pradesh, incidents are happening regularly, this is because of the failure of the government. To hide its failure, the government is doing encounters,” he said.
“If law and order would have been improving because of encounters, then UP would have been doing better than other states in many things.”
Uttar Pradesh Congress Committee chief Ajay Rai slammed the government, saying the encounter was an attempt to “hide its failures”. “This is totally fake encounter,” he said.
“The government keeps on talking on zero tolerance and saying that no riots took place but in reality, they want to hide their failures by such fake encounters.”
