The family of Shaikh Muniroddin, a 45-year-old Muslim man who died from a police bullet wound during Ram Navami violence urged for a thorough investigation into his death. They strongly objected to the police including him in the list of rioters in the First Information Report (FIR) connected to the violence.
“There was total chaos outside our apartment. My father went downstairs and was standing inside the locked gate of our apartment when he was hit by the bullet,” Times of India quoted the son of the deceased as saying.
Violence erupted near the Ram Mandir area in Kiradpura after Hindutva groups started raising abusive slogans against Muslims. People gathered in large numbers after the fight and pelted stones at the police. As the crowd was getting out of control, the police initially made a lathicharge and blow tear gas. Shaikh Muniroddin was hit by a bullet. He was being treated at MGM Hospital, where he died on Thursday evening while undergoing treatment.
According to the family members, CCTV footage showed that after realising the victim had been shot, a doctor who lived in the vicinity came to the scene and advised them to take him to a hospital. However, when they tried to shift him, they found that the gates were locked and the people responsible for locking them was nowhere to be found. The son said that with the help of other residents from their apartment, they were able to break open the locks at both the channel gate and exit gate to leave the premises.
Based on CCTV footage, the Jinsi police have so far arrested seven suspects, who were produced before a magisterial court on Friday, the newspaper reported.
“The court ordered their custodial remand for four days,” inspector Ashok Bhandare of the Jinsi police said.
