A 24-year-old youth on Monday succumbed to bullet injuries sustained in police firing during a clash in Ahmedabad’s Shahpur area on Sunday night.
According to the police, a mob clashed with the police on Sunday when two police officials had gone to Shahpur to apprehend a local man allegedly involved in a cow-slaughter case. As the crowd swelled, stone pelting began and the police opened fire and lobbed tear gas shells to disperse the crowd.
Ashraf Khan, resident of Pathar Wali Masjid locality in Shahpur, was killed in the firing by Crime Branch officials. “He sustained a bullet injury in the stomach and lost a lot of blood,” A.K. Sharma, Joint Commissioner of Police (Crime) told The Hindu.
Khan is named as an accused in the FIR registered by the police against 15 persons on charges of rioting and attempt to murder.
The police fired five rounds from their pistols and lobbed nearly 70 tear gas shells.
The festival of Eid turned into an occasion for mourning for the devastated family members of the deceased. They told The Hindu that Mr. Khan, a tailor, was returning from work when he got caught in the crossfire. They alleged that he passed away on Sunday night itself, but the police and the hospital authorities, where the youth was admitted did not declare him dead for fear of sparking tension on the eve of Eid.
“We want to know who killed my son, who fired. I want justice for my son,” Naseem Bano, the mother of the deceased told T he Hindu . Mr. Khan was slated to get married on October 19.
Previously on two occasions, similar scuffles took place between the people and the police on the issue of cow-slaughter and animal cruelty. In the run up to Eid, the police, as well as the Vishwa Hindu Parishad, had stepped up checks on rustlers.
“There are many people who are involved in the illegal trade of cow-slaughter as the cow is cheaper than the goat. Also, many a times, animals are found crammed in vehicles which also amounts to animal cruelty,” Mr. Sharma said.
