Students of Meerut’s Chaudhary Charan Singh University (CCSU) on Friday turned up in large numbers at the city collectorate to protest against the ‘encounter’ of fellow student Kadir Ali. Seeking justice for Mr. Kadir Ali, the protesters described Thursday’s encounter as “fake” and demanded action against the police officials involved.
Mr. Kadir Ali, who is undergoing treatment at a city hospital, was accused of opening fire at Shanu and Manish, students of CCSU, on Wednesday just before a welcome event for U.P. Transport Minister Ashok Kataria on the campus.
After the attack on the students, a case was registered, in which seven students, including Mr. Kadir Ali, were named as accused.
On Thursday, the U.P. police declared a reward of ₹20,000 on Mr. Kadir Ali and, later in the day, the police said they arrested him after he was shot at during an ‘encounter’.
Local sources say Mr. Kadir Ali is associated with the Akhil Bhartiya Vidyarthi Parishad and his uncle Kunwar Basit Ali is a member of Urdu Academy. While students claimed Mr. Kadir Ali was enrolled in BJMC course at the CCSU, university authorities said he had dropped out last year.
In a video that went viral on Friday, Mr. Kadir Ali’s brother Sajid claimed that his brother had “surrendered” to the police and that the encounter was “fake”. In a letter to the district magistrate, he said that when his family came to know that a case had been registered against Mr. Kadir Ali, Mr. Basit Ali asked him to surrender to the police. Mr. Sajid said he left his brother at the Civil Lines police station and informed SP (City) Akhilesh N. Singh.
He alleged that the police took his brother to an unknown place and shot him in the foot during a ‘staged encounter’.
However, the police claimed Mr. Kadir Ali tried to flee from police custody after snatching a sub-inspector’s pistol. Mr. Singh agreed Mr. Kadir Ali voluntarily came to the police station but as policemen were taking him for recovery of the weapon that was used in the incident, he snatched a sub-inspector’s pistol and fled. He was later arrested after an encounter in which he got injured and had to be admitted to a hospital. The protesting students said the police version was false.
The students, along with BJP leaders and family members, have decided to meet IG Meerut Range Alok Singh on Saturday and submit a memorandum.
