'BJP goons killed Qasim, dragged him like a dead animal'
New Delhi, June 22: Cattle trader Qasim, who was lynched in Uttar Pradesh's Hapur earlier this week, was "brutally killed by BJP goons as he belonged to the Muslim community" and dragged like dead animal in presence of police, his younger brother said on Friday.
"My brother screamed in pain for water, but the mob refused him saying he is a Muslim and butcher. He was dragged like a dead animal in front of police," Mohammed Nadeem said at a press conference here.
Qasim was allegedly beaten to death and farmer Mohammed Samiyuddin was critically injured by a mob over alleged rumours of cow slaughter at Bajhera Khurd village in Hapur.
Nadheem said that around 11 a.m. four days back, his brother received a call from someone to purchase the cattle. "He left to make a deal but never came back to home."
"I received a call saying your brother was lynched by a mob and was taken to police station. When we reached the police station, they said he was taken to hospital. He was lying dead in the hospital," said Nadeem.
The press meet was organised by a fact-finding team of United Against Hate comprising of activists Nadeem Khan, Shariq Hussain and advocate Mushfiq and Shibli from the Association for Protection of Civil Rights (APCR) which visited the villages of the victims and met their family members.
The team were told that Qasim was a cattle trader, purchased buffalos and lambs from nearby villages and sold them at a local animal market called Paith.
Meanwhile, 67-year-old Samiyuddin, was allegedly thrashed and critically injured by the mob when he intervened and tried to pacify the attackers, and later admitted in private hospital.
Samiyuddin's brother Mohammed Mehruddin said: "Police confused us for six hours in order so we can't meet him. But finally we found him in private hospital lying unconscious on bed with his right hand thumb having blue colour impression."
"We don't know, what police have used this thumb impression for," he added.
The fact-finding team said in a statement that before the lynching, an announcement was made from the nearby temple asking people to gather there, as cow killers had been caught red-handed - "which is a repeat of the modus operandi adopted in the Dadri incident where Akhlaq was lynched to death for allegedly consuming beef. Police however, say that they are not aware of any such announcement".
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Gujarat Titans beat Royal Challengers Bengaluru by four wickets
Ahmedabad (PTI): Skipper Shubman Gill and Jos Buttler played useful knocks to help Gujarat Titans chase down defending champions Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s modest total, securing a four-wicket win in their Indian Premier League match here on Thursday.
Despite RCB pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar (3/28) tormenting the hosts, opener Gill scored a belligerent 43 off 18 balls, while Buttler smashed 39 off 19 to power Gujarat to their fifth win of the season and take their points tally to 10. They chased down a modest 155 in 15.5 overs for
the loss of six wickets.
Earlier, RCB were dismissed in 19.2 overs with their batters struggling against the bowling attack led by Kagiso Rabada and Mohammed Siraj.
RCB, who are placed second on the points table, could not stitch together a fruitful partnership, losing wickets at regular intervals as Siraj (1/38) and Rabada (1/44) reduced them to 35 for 2 in the fourth over, from where they could not recover.
Left-arm pacer Arshad Khan (3/22) took the wickets of RCB skipper Rajat Patidar (19), Krunal Pandya (4) and Venkatesh Iyer (12), while Jason Holder (2/29) and Rashid Khan (2/19) also grabbed two wickets each.
Devdutt Padikkal was the highest run-getter for RCB, scoring 40 off 24 balls.
Brief Scores:
Royal Challengers Bengaluru 155 all out in 19.2 overs (Devdutt Padikkal 40, Virat Kohli 28; Arshad Khan 3/22, Mohammed Siraj 1/38, Kagiso Rabada 1/44, Rashid Khan 2/19, Jason Holder 2/29).
Gujarat Titans 158 for 6 in 15.5 overs (Shubman Gill 43, Jos Buttler 39; Bhuvneshwar Kumar 3/28, Romario Shepherd 2/30).
