A 25-year-old Muslim youth in Uttar Pradesh’s Agra, Mohammad Ghulfam, owner of a biryani restaurant, was shot dead on Wednesday night, less than 24 hours after the Pahalgam militant attack.
At the time, Ghulfam was shutting the shop. According to reports, three men on a motorbike pulled up outside the shop, but before he could do that, one of them raised a gun and fired. Two shots were fired.
Ghulfam’s cousin brother Saif Ali, who was also shot, had a narrow escape with an injury to his neck.
Speaking to the media after the attack, Ali said that on April 23, around 11:45 pm, they were closing the restaurant when two men walked up to them after parking their scooter some distance away.
“After a few greetings they pulled out a pistol and shot him,” said Saif, adding that he was also shot. A bullet or bullet pellets grazed his neck. Ghulfam was declared ‘brought dead’ at a local hospital.
The incident came to light after two men claiming to be self-styled gau rakshaks (cow vigilantes) posted a video on Instagram claiming responsibility for shooting two Muslim men in Agra. They claimed that the shooting was to avenge the killing of 26 tourists in Pahalgam in Jammu and Kashmir.
The video, which started circulating on social media, featured a person identifying himself as Manoj Chaudhary, an alleged member of the Kshatriya Gau Raksha Dal, who said he shot two Muslims in Agra.
“Two k#### (slur) were killed in Taj city Agra. Kshatriya Gau Raksha Dal takes responsibility for this. We take an oath over Bharat Mata, that if we do not avenge 26 with 2600, I am not a son of Bharat Mata. Jai Shri Ram, Jai Hindu Rashtra,” said Manoj Chaudhary, who was armed with knives and a pistol. His associate, whose identity was not known, also carried similar weapons.
The police, however, stressed that the said outfit, Kshatriya Gau Raksha Dal, was not active in Agra and warned people on social media that legal action would be taken against anyone spreading unverified and misleading content about the incident.
The police also dismissed reports which claimed that before shooting Ghulfam and Saif, the assailants had asked for their names and religion.
In an FIR accessed by Maktoob, Section 109(1) and 103(1) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) have been slapped on the accused. Both sections are related to murder.
According to the FIR, the men ran away after shooting the victims.
Saif said that he did not know the assailants. The brothers also did not have any dispute with anyone. “Nothing had ever happened,” said Saif.
Meanwhile, Agra police also said that three friends of Ghulfam who were at the scene when the incident happened did not mention anything to his kin or to the police about any such communal profiling. Later, on April 24, police released a video in which a police officer was heard questioning Saif about the incident.
When the police asked Saif if the assailants asked for their names or religion, he said nothing of the sort happened. “There was no issue about names,” he said.
Meanwhile, Agra police threatened legal action against those who post “malicious, misleading, factually incorrect or irresponsible” posts about the incident.
“Don’t post any such news on social media which could spoil social harmony and amity,” said Agra police.
