Ballabhgarh lynching: Main accused in Junaid murder was hiding in Maharashtra, arrested

The main accused in the Ballabhgarh stabbing and lynching of Junaid on board a Mathura-bound train was arrested on Saturday from Dhule district of Maharashtra, the Government Railway Police (GRP) said. In a statement, the GRP stated that a team was sent to Dhule following on a tip-off information that the accused person was hiding there.

The arrest came days after the Haryana police announced Rs 2 lakh for any information that could lead to the killer. Earlier, the police had arrested five persons, including a 50-year-old Delhi government employee, in connection with the murder but the prime accused had been at large. The cops have been boarding the Delhi -Mathura EMU to get some clues on the attackers.

Sixteen-year-old Junaid was stabbed to death when he, along with his brothers, was returning home to Khandawli village in Ballabgarh after shopping for Eid in Delhi. It was then that a group of men boarded the train from Okhla station and picked up a fight with Junaid and his brothers over seats.

When Junaid and his brothers refused to vacate the seats, they were beaten and held hostage in the moving train. The men also provoked by using religious slurs and snatched their 'topi' ( skull cap). Later, Junaid and his brother were stabbed with a knife near Ballabhgarh. Junaid, who sufffered multiple stab wounds, later succumbed to his injuries.

The incident generated nationwide outrage with several groups demonstrating and protesting. It also led to several Muslims groups offering their Eid prayers with a black band on their arms as a mark of protest for Junaid's killing.