Lockdown: UP Family Alleges Police High-Handedness Resulted in Death of Muslim Man

Lucknow: Fear and shock have gripped the Muslim community in Ambedkar Nagar district’s Chatori Gali in Tanda town, a Muslim-majority area of Uttar Pradesh with a long history of weaving. Tension has mounted after a young Muslim man died after being allegedly beaten up by policemen when he was out to buy biscuits.

Mohammad Rizwan, a 22-year old native of Chhajjapur village, stepped out to buy a packet of biscuits since his father and he were famished. At the grocery shop, he was allegedly beaten up by policemen who used batons and rifle butts. Three days later, Rizwan died at the district hospital in Akbarpur.

Ever since the lockdown was extended till May 3, reports from across Uttar Pradesh spoke of police brutality in quarantine shelters and that people were being chased by when they stepped out for essential commodities.

Rizwan, however, has become the first fatality due to purported police high-handedness in enforcing the lockdown in the state.

Rizwan, the lone breadwinner of his family, was a cart-puller by profession. His father, Mohammed Israel, fixes punctures at a tiny shop in the small town of Aliganj, about a kilometre from his village of Chhajjapur. Ever since he has seen his son dying before him, he has visibly changed.

When NewsClick reached his house, he was brooding in a corner of the small establishment, repeating the same sentence: "Koi mere bachhey ko la do, mujhe dekhna hai usse (Someone get my son, I want to seem him).”

"Ladka mar gaya saheb, aaj fatiha kar rahe hain uska. Biscuit lene gaye tha, saheb logon ne maar diya usko (My son has died sir, we’re offering prayers for the dead. He had gone to fetch biscuits, sahebs killed him),” Israel told NewsClick, tears rolling down his cheeks.

He said that at around 4 p.m. on March 15, Rizwan was hungry but there was nothing to eat at home. Rizwan stepped out from their house and reached a grocery shop nearby to buy a packet of biscuits but cops caught him and he was beaten up, his father said. “Both his both legs were broken, his body was shivering and before I asked anything, he said: ‘Saheb logon ne bahut maara hai abba’ (Policemen have beaten me mercilessly father),” Israel added, his voice choking.

After Rizwan returned home, the family took him to a local hakeem (healer) for treatment, due to restrictions owing to the lockdown. When his health started deteriorating, the doctors referred him to the district hospital where he died at around 2:30 am.

Rizwan's father said that before the incident, neither he, nor his son, had ever been to police station in their lives. "Now he will not come back. He was a daily wage labourer and I fix punctures for a living. I have four daughters who have to be married but how would I do this alone now?" asked the ailing father.

Rizwan's uncle, Mohammad Usman, accused sub-inspector Shivangi and four others of Chhajjapur police station of beating up his nephew. “Several people made videos which are doing the rounds on social media. It was a cold-bolded murder and the government should punish the culprit cops," he claimed.

An eyewitness to the incident, who wished to remain anonymous, said that despite there being not a single case of COVID-19 in the district, “the police is selectively targetting Muslims and linking them to the Tablighi Jamaat. Rizwan was subject to communal slurs and abused for spreading the coronavirus in the country. Scores of people were standing there when Rizwan was being thrashed by police but we were helpless,” they added.

Sajid, Rizwan’s neighbour, said that the entire hamlet was running short of rations. "Rizwan was very poor and when he could not control his hunger, he rushed to a shop to bring biscuits, which was the only item available in that shop. But he did not know that he was walking to his death,” he added.

It is worth a mention that the Yogi Adityanath-led state government in Uttar Pradesh had assured citizens that essential goods would be home-delivered. However, the villagers claimed that the administration could not ensure the doorstep delivery of essential commodities.

Amar Bahadur, Circle Officer (CO) of Tanda, said he was checking the CCTV footage of cameras along the route but nothing has turned up so far. "An inquiry is underway and as of now we have scanned through CCTV footage, but can not come to any conclusion."

The CO said that the post-mortem report will be released soon.