The Hindu : Front Page : Deshmukh reassures north Indians

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Thursday, Oct 30, 2008
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Deshmukh reassures north Indians

Meena Menon

‘Lynching of U.P. youth on train unfortunate’

MUMBAI: A day after a youth from Bihar was shot dead by the Mumbai police, another migrant was beaten within an inch of his life in a suburban local train near Khopoli on Tuesday. Dharamdeo Rai, a 25-year-old worker from Uttar Pradesh, was admitted to hospital but did not recover from a punctured liver.

The successive incidents have created shock waves in the city. Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister R.R. Patil pointed out that it was not a hate crime against North Indians.

Government Railway Police Commissioner A.K. Sharma confirmed Rai died due to the beating. A case of murder was registered against 10 to 12 persons at the Karjat railway police station. Rai’s uncle and cousin were with him at the time of the incident.

No has been arrested in the case, though several people are being questioned. There is no suspicion yet on the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS).

Probe on

Mr. Sharma said the people who attacked Rai did not raise any slogans or display political affiliations. The matter was being investigated. Based on eyewitness accounts, sketches of the attackers are being prepared.

Mr. Sharma said security had been increased on trains due to the volatile situation in the State. The home guards on the train were in another compartment.

Shiv Kumar Verma, a friend of Rai, said four of them boarded the train at Khopoli at around 2 p.m. on Tuesday to go to Kurla, from where they were planning to take a train back to Uttar Pradesh. “After the train left, some people came to us and asked us if we were bhayyas [a derogatory term for North Indians]. We said ‘yes’. At this, they started abusing us and beating us. Dharamdeo was beaten very badly and we too suffered many blows, said Verma. Those people asked us what we were doing here and why we were working here. We were so scared, we said we are going back but they beat us up anyway. After the incident we came to the police station.”

Verma is from Faizabad and, along with Dharamdeo, worked in a steel factory in Raigad district. Dharamdeo is married and has a daughter back home in Boria Ghat village in Sant Kabir Nagar district in Uttar Pradesh. He took up the job at the factory just three months ago.

The State government, which already announced a high-level probe on Tuesday into Monday’s shooting incident, has said that it will provide all necessary security to North Indians.

Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh has ordered Chief Secretary Johny Joseph to inquire into this incident as well.

Mr. Deshmukh said the lynching incident was unfortunate and serious note had been taken of it. He reassured all North Indians that they should not worry about their personal security.

The government has announced a compensation of Rs. 2 lakh to the victim’s family.

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