A day after 60-year-old Ghulam Ahmed was beaten to death in Bulandshahr for allegedly helping a relative elope with a girl from a different community, the police on Wednesday arrested three persons in connection with the incident.
Those arrested are Hunny Raghav, Pulkit and Lalit but the main accused, Gavender, is still at large.
The victim’s son, Vakeel Ahmad, had alleged that members of the Hindu Yuva Vahini were involved, but the police said no link to the Hindu outfit could be established during the interrogation of the arrested men.
Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP)-Bulandshahr Muniraj G. said 15 teams had been formed and a manhunt launched to nab the other culprits. The police also conducted raids to trace the girl.
According to the police, 19-year-old Yusuf of Sohi village allegedly eloped with a Hindu girl of Fazalpur on April 27.
The girl’s family lodged a kidnapping case against Yusuf at the Pahasu police station.
Demanding to know the whereabouts of Yusuf and the girl, the assailants dragged Mr. Ahmed from his mango orchard to a secluded spot on Tuesday afternoon and beat him to death.
More than 24 hours after he was lynched, tension still prevailed in the area and a huge posse of police personnel has been deployed in and around the village.
Fearing further attacks, Mr Ahmed’s family is planning to leave the village for an undisclosed location. “He was killed in broad daylight. We have been receiving threats. We have decided to leave the village to a safer location,” said Mr Ahmed’s daughter-in-law Shakeela.
