It has been a month since Mohd Salahuddin is seeking justice for his deceased brother. He claims he has video evidence of December 20, 2019, which suggests that his brother Aleem was possibly killed in police firing on Hapur Road during the Anti-Citizenship (Amendment) Act protest.
“When the magisterial inquiry began, the additional district magistrate told local newspapers that the Senior Superintendent of Police has told him through a letter that somebody had dropped Aleem’s body at the district hospital. I think I not only lost my brother, but we also lost faith in humanity on December 20. No representative of the district administration or the ruling political party has visited us in the last one month,” he told The Hindu .
The police, he said, claim 36 unarmed policemen were cornered by the agitators in Bhawani Market. They don’t say that it was the Muslim shopkeepers who protected them from the protesters till the reinforcement arrived. “How can I approach an inquiry committee with evidence in such an atmosphere,” he asked, adding that he would approach the court for justice. “Even the local Muslim leaders failed us. They could not get the post-mortem report released on time.”
Forensic reports
Meanwhile, both the police as well as lawyers of the deceased are waiting for the forensic reports to prove their version of what transpired on December 20.
The distance from which the bullets were fired is crucial. Interestingly, in most cases, the bullets have left the body.
Ali Zaidi, a Delhi-based Supreme Court lawyer, who is handling the case of Aleem and four others who died of gunshot injuries on December 20, said they would lodge an FIR against the police and are contemplating approaching the Supreme Court to shift the investigation out of Uttar Pradesh.
“We don’t trust the local police to conduct a fair investigation against themselves. They have not been able to tell whose bullets killed these five men. The post-mortem report of two of them has not been released. The father and uncle of a witness were detained and were threatened that their names would be included in the list of protesters,” he alleged.
Meanwhile, the police are building a narrative around the role of the Popular Front of India, whose 10 alleged members have been arrested, behind the protest and ensuing violence in Meerut.
Ram Arj, SP (Crime), who is heading the SIT, said there was a difference between allegation and scientific evidence. “The fact that we have arrested only 54 out of hundreds named in the FIR shows that we don’t want any innocent to suffer. We are not holding back anybody's post -mortem report. There is nothing to fear, those who have evidence should come forward,” he said.
Refusing to divulge who killed the five men, Mr. Arj said: “The investigation is still on. We are still waiting for results from the forensic lab. What I can say is that we have recovered one 9 mm pistol, 32 bore pistol, 315 bore country-made pistols and live cartridges from the arrested persons.”
In Bijnor, Afzal Ahmad Ansari advocate and uncle of Suleman, who was allegedly killed by police in self-defence, rejected the idea of a magisterial inquiry.
“Though we have been approached by the police, we don’t want to record testimonies in front of an officer who ordered firing on December 20. Our demand for a separate FIR against the police has not been met. We have approached the Allahabad High Court and will plead the case to be shifted to some other district,” he said.
