Till Sunday, nearly ‘nine to ten persons’, some with previous history of cow vigilantism, have been questioned in connection with the Arang mob lynching case of Chhattisgarh, an incident in which two cattle transporters were killed while a third was injured this past week, said investigators.
“They include people who had chased the victims’ vehicle and those who reached later after receiving phone calls. None admitted to having attacked the trio but we are questioning them separately to corroborate their versions and also checking phone records. We might call more people for questioning,” said a police source.
In the early hours of Friday, two Uttar Pradesh residents — Guddu Khan and Chand Miya Khan — were found dead while a third, Saddam Qureshi, sustained injuries in the Arang area of Raipur district. According to a common relative of Chand and Saddam, the three were lynched by a mob. He claimed they were waylaid, their vehicle was punctured and they were thrashed and thrown off a bridge, causing the death of Chand and Guddu and injuries to Saddam.
The police have so far not established what happened on the night of the incident and have registered a case of culpable homicide not amounting to murder and attempt to murder. Kirtan Rathore, Additional Superintendent of Police, said the post-mortem reports of the duo had thus far not established the cause of death or if there were any ante-mortem injuries.
Forensic analysis
“The initial reports did not establish either. We sent it for another scrutiny but that hasn’t provided much additional information either. Forensic teams on Sunday conducted an analysis of the crime spot and the vehicle in which the victims were travelling and their reports, as well as the report of call details are awaited which we need to piece together the sequence,” said Mr. Rathore.
Meanwhile, Saddam’s testimony, an integral element of the investigation, is awaited as he is still not in a condition to provide his statement. A police team that went to the private hospital where he is receiving treatment on Sunday learnt that he was on ventilator support, added police sources.
