Lucknow : The Unnao police on Saturday exhumed the body of Yunus Khan, a key witness in the alleged murder of Unnao rape victim’s father in April this year, amid strong opposition from the family.
Superintendent of police, Unnao, Harish Kumar said the entire process was carried out in his presence and recorded. “Shahr Qazi, Unnao, Maulana Nasir accompanied us. We are acting in accordance with law,” he said.
The cops informed Khan’s family that they had exhumed his body and sent it for post mortem and that they (family) should stop opposing the legal process.
However, Khan’s wife Shabeena and 13 other family members reached Lucknow, 65 km from Unnao, and she attempted to commit suicide near the chief minister’s residence in protest against exhumation of his body. The policemen stationed there foiled her suicide bid.
“Exhumation of the body has hurt our sentiments. It is against our tradition. Why are the police are not understanding that he (Khan) died at home and everyone in the village attended his funeral. There is nothing fishy or suspicious,” she said.
Suraj Yadav, sub-divisional magistrate (SDM), Hasangunj, said: “The autopsy is important to bring out the truth; they should not obstruct the process. We have given assurance that the body will again be buried with full honour and respect.”
On July 7, the CBI named BJP MLA Kuldeep Sengar’s brother Atul in the charge-sheet in connection with the alleged murder of the rape victim’s father. Kuldeep Sengar is the accused in the rape case.
Shabeena has blamed the rape victim’s uncle of twisting facts to build his case against the accused. She has also given in writing to the authorities that the victim’s uncle tried to lure her with a promise of Rs 8 lakh in bribe so that she does his bidding. She said her husband died of prolonged illness.
Earlier, many of Yunus’s family members and relatives signed a petition to the district magistrate Devesh Chandra Pandey to roll back his order to exhume the body.
The petition said Khan had died of liver related ailment on August 18 but the victim’s uncle, who is a history-sheeter, used the death to build his case.
During the talks with circle officer, Safipur, Vivek Ranjan Rai, Shabeena said she and even her husband weren’t aware that he was a witness and had deposed. The CBI, she said, never approached or informed them about the deposition.
Meanwhile, the rape victim’s uncle has claimed the Khan, who was a key witness in the murder of his brother, was poisoned to death.
Sources said the decision to exhume the body and get a post mortem done was taken following a tweet from Congress president Rahul Gandhi on the issue.
As the family got support from the village in the matter, the authorities sent religious scholars and influential Muslims to them to clear their doubts.
An uneasy calm prevailed in the village and security was further beefed up as the cops feared some law and order problem.
courtesy : hindustantimes.com
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Mumbai (PTI): In view of Argentine superstar footballer Lionel Messi's visit to Mumbai on Sunday, the city police are implementing stringent security measures, like not allowing water bottles, metals, coins inside the stadiums and setting up watchtowers to keep an eye on the crowd, officials said.
The police also said taking extra care to avoid any stampede-like situation and to prevent recurrence of the chaotic situation that unfolded in Kolkata during Messi's visit on Saturday as thousands of fans protested inside the Salt Lake stadium here after failing to catch a clear glimpse of the football icon despite paying hefty sums for tickets.
Messi is expected to be present at the Cricket Club of India (Brabourne Stadium) in Mumbai on Sunday for a Padel GOAT Cup event followed by attending a celebrity football match. He is expected to proceed to the Wankhede Stadium for the GOAT India Tour main event around 5 pm.
"In view of Lionel Messi's visit to Mumbai, the police are geared up and have put in place a high level of security arrangements in and around the stadiums located in south Mumbai. Considering the chaos that prevailed in Kolkata and the security breach, we have deployed World Cup-level security arrangements at Brabourne and Wankhede stadiums," an official said.
Expecting heavy crowd near the stadiums during Messi's visit, the city police force has deployed more than 2,000 of its personnel near and around both the venues, he said.
As the Mumbai police have the experience of security 'bandobast' during the victory parade of ICC World Cup-winning Indian team and World Cup final match at the Wankhede Stadium, in which over one lakh cricket fans had gathered, we are prepared to handle a large crowd of fans, he said.
"We are trying to avoid the errors that occurred in the past," the official said.
There is no place to sneak inside the stadiums in Mumbai like the Kolkata stadium, according to him.
The police are also asking the organisers to provide all the required facilities to the fans inside the stadium, so that there will be no chaos, he said, adding the spectators have purchased tickets in the range of Rs 5,000 to 25,000. After paying so much of amount, any spectator expects proper services, while enjoying the event, he said.
The police are expecting 33,000 spectators at the Wankhede Stadium and over 4,000 at Brabourne Stadium. Besides this, more than 30,000 people are expected outside and around the stadiums just to have a glimpse of the football sensation, he said.
The organisers responsible for Messi's India visit recently came to Mumbai to discuss security arrangements. During the meeting, the Mumbai police asked them not to take the event lightly, according to the official.
After those requirements were fulfilled, the final security deployment was chalked out, he said.
Police has the standard procedure of the security arrangements inside the Wankhede Stadium, where people are barred from taking water bottles, metals objects, coins. Police are setting up watch towers near the stadiums and there will be traffic diversions, so that there is maximum space available to stand, according to the official.
Police are also appealing to the spectators to use public transport service for commuting and avoid personal vehicles to reach south Mumbai.
To avoid any stampede-like situation, police are also taking precautionary measures and will stop the fans some distance ahead of the stadium and public announcement systems will be used to guide the crowd. Barricades will be placed at various places to manage the crowd.
In case the crowd swells up beyond expectation, the police will divert people to other grounds and preparations in this regard underway, he said.
Additional police force has been deployed in south Mumbai to tackle any kind of situation, he said.
