Day before Eid celebrations Muzaffarnagar burns again

Riot-ravaged Muzaffarnagar district was once again gripped by seething tension on Sunday ahead of Eid-ul-Zuha when beheaded bodies of three persons were discovered in the region. Reports of four others missing also emerged from Bahadurpur, about five kilometres away from the city area. The district in west Uttar Pradesh, scarred by slew of violent communal conflagrations between Hindus and Muslims, was drowned in fear of another erupting in the wake of these findings, as the local Hindu people held Muslims responsible for brutal murder. Angry locals blocked the highway and other arterial roads in protest and halted the traffic. Police personnel, paramilitary forces and provincial armed constabulary (PAC) were deployed by the local administration to avert any untoward incident in city as well as rural parts of the district.

The incident took place close to Haryana border. The state is scheduled to go for assembly polls on 15 October. When news of seven persons, all belonging to the Dalit community, having gone missing, spread, villagers started an intensive search and rescue operation. After scouring length and breadth of the area, three persons -- Surendra, Kunwarpal and Sunder -- were found dead at three locations in a nearby forest. The deceased had been beheaded, disemboweled with their internal organs scooped out with a sharp weapon. The findings created a flurry of unrest among the villagers and a high alert was soon sounded to avert further flare ups.

However, as soon as the bodies of all three were brought back to the village, the people were left deeply disturbed and expressed their ire by protesting along the Panipat-Khatima highway and Jansath Road, which they blocked. The mob halted traffic for more than six hours demanding immediate arrest of the murderers and adequate compensation to their families. People were dispersed after assurances from the senior officials came saying investigation into the matter would happen soon. In addition, a compensation of Rs. five lakh to each family was also announced by the officials.

However, three persons called Vikram, Arvind and Parmendra are still untraceable and the locals of Muzaffarnagar suspect they have been killed. They blame the same assailants responsible for the beheadings for the suspected crimes. This reporter spoke to some of the locals who claimed outsiders were spotted roaming in and around the village since couple of weeks and they might have committed the crimes. ‘They have been murdered brutally with every intention of creating rift between the communities. Here, few anti-social elements are active who could be involved in the fresh incident. As three persons are still missing, we suspect their murders happened in same manner,’ said Gopal Kumar, a local resident. 

The local police, after sending the bodies for postmortem examination, have claimed to have brought the situation under control. ‘We have intensified the security by deploying additional forces and are keeping close eye on every movement. We have also registered a case at Sikhera police station against unidentified persons and have formed teams to nab them,’ said HN Singh, senior superintendent of police (SSP) of Muzaffarnagar.