Tears trickle down Rajeeda’s face as she lies motionless on her bed. She had just lost her infant daughter two days ago, and the shock had paralyzed her.
Located in Alwar’s Raghunathgarh village under the Naugaon police station area, the small village is in the news for constant arbitrary and targeted raids by Rajasthan Police in an attempt to bust cyber crime gangs allegedly operating from the Mewat region.
Mewat is spread across the states of Haryana, Rajasthan, and Uttar Pradesh and is home to the Meo Muslim community.
The Meos follow syncretic traditions and live in a vast and backward region whose name derives from the word ‘Meo’: Mewat. It comprises the Nuh, Palwal, Faridabad, and Gurgaon districts of Haryana, the Alwar and Bharatpur districts of Rajasthan, and a few areas of western UP, including Mathura.
The community has a rich cultural history and is known to have fought off the British.
Authorities now claim that the region has lately become a hub for cyber crime. According to government data, 54% of cyber crimes registered in India originate from Mewat.
The crimes mostly consist of different smartphone scams, where perpetrators scam and blackmail victims. Reports suggest that, unlike other cyber crimes, which require sophisticated infrastructure, these crime networks are structureless, leaderless, and less sophisticated.
Police say most people involved in these crimes are between the ages of 17 and 30, though some phone scammers claim children as young as 12 have participated in such activities.
On March 2, Imran Khan was sleeping at his house in Raghunathgarh village when policemen arrived in two jeeps at about 6 a.m. and knocked on his door. Khan’s wife, who was sleeping with their one-month-old daughter on a cot, opened the door.
“A male police officer jerked my wife out of the house and threw her outside. They then entered our room, and one policeman jumped on the cot, crushing my daughter’s head under his feet,” Khan told Maktoob.
A daily wage laborer, Khan, who does not even own a smartphone and only has a keypad phone, was picked up by the police and dragged outside.
“They took me outside and interrogated me. When they realized I had nothing, I came back to see my wife crying. When I saw my daughter, one side of her head was crushed, and she was bleeding from her nose,” he said.
Khan said that she was instantly crushed to death, as the baby did not cry or make a noise.
After the incident, angry villagers reached out to the police. However, when they received no response, they assembled at the residence of Alwar SP (Rural) and staged a demonstration. A case was then registered against unnamed police officials, and Khan’s family was assured that action would be taken against those responsible.
However, Khan said no action has been taken yet. “They murdered my daughter, and I want justice. This was intentional murder and nothing else,” Imran alleged.
The police team that conducted the raid at Khan’s house was led by head constables Girdhari and Jagveer and included other officials named Sunil, Rishi, and Shahid. According to reports, they were sent for the raid by Alwar SP Sanjeev Nain after the FIR was registered.
In the village, however, tension remains high. Regular panchayat meetings are being held regarding the frequent police raids conducted in the name of cyber crime.
Muslims targeted
Local Muslim leaders told Maktoob that while cyber crime is indeed a significant issue in the region, it is not just Muslims who engage in it.
Liyakat Khan, an advocate and former sarpanch from Govangarh village, said that police repression in Mewat has increased, targeting innocent people.
“Whether you call it a lack of education, police dictatorship, or government negligence, all of it is shameful,” he added.
Khan emphasized that during such raids, no women police officers accompany the teams to handle female residents. “They never bring lady police officers and enter homes late at night without considering the situation. The situation has been like this for a long time, but ever since the BJP came to power, it has intensified, especially in Muslim-majority villages,” he said.
The situation has left deep resentment between the people and the police, who have been raiding houses in a similar manner. Locals alleged that male police officers beat women and the elderly, and even children are not spared.
However, the major anger is directed at the targeting of the Muslim community.
Meanwhile, the elderly in the village alleged that the police pick up innocent men and then extort large sums of money in exchange for their release.
“It’s like a scam where the real perpetrators walk free while innocents are harassed,” one villager said.
Nafeez, 25, was arrested by the Rajasthan Police on February 25. The police reached Nafeez’s house at 5:30 a.m. while he was sleeping.
“There were policemen in two jeeps waiting outside my house. I somehow managed to go live on Facebook before the police entered my house,” he said.
Nafeez, a vlogger with a Facebook page, said his content is readily available online. “The police accused me of cyber crime, and when I told them about my page, they snatched and broke my phone,” Nafeez said.
According to him, he and his cousins were taken to the Naugaon Police Station, where the police demanded a ₹2,00,000 bribe.
“I was in jail for nearly two hours before my family arranged the money. They found nothing on my phone and had to release me. It is so stressful to see them do this to our community. If there are criminals, they should be arrested—why go after innocent people?” he said.
Shahrukh, 25, was slapped with an FIR, along with his brother, under fraud charges. A singer who runs a studio, Shahrukh said that last month, the police raided his studio.
“They broke all my equipment only to release me days later when they found nothing. It’s horrible. I had put in so much effort to build something like this,” he added.
Shahrukh, along with five of his brothers and cousins, was arrested by the Rajasthan Police, two of whom were minors.
“They made a video of us trying to show they caught us with laptops while we were running away. But my house had CCTV, so we were saved because of that,” he added.
Shahrukh said his father refused to pay the police, citing wrongful arrest and evidence.
Meanwhile, the opposition Congress stepped in and visited the affected families, assuring them of swift justice.
“We were informed that in the name of cyber fraud, the police entered Mewat and arrested people indiscriminately. Those who could pay were released, while others were not,” Gapur Khan, District Head of Congress, told Maktoob.
He alleged that the real culprits were not being arrested and that cyber crime is widespread across the country.
“We have heard of high-ranking officials engaging in such scams, but Mewat is being singled out. It is because the government belongs to the BJP, and the Meo community is being targeted. Cyber crime is not exclusive to Muslims,” he added.
He also questioned why the police entered houses without notice.
Maktoob also spoke to the village Pradhan, Khursheed Khan, who acknowledged that cyber crime is a serious issue in Mewat.
“There is no doubt about it. I would say almost 90% of people are involved in it,” he said.
Khan said he has coordinated with the police on various occasions and learned that people from all communities participate in cyber crime. “The police are doing their job, but the targeting of Muslims is evident. From what I have personally observed, every community is involved,” he said.
However, at Imran Khan’s house, the broken roofs, tattered clothes, and cramped rooms housing five to six people tell a different story.
“If we had money, would we live like this? Would I not be living in a better house under better conditions?” Imran said.
The villagers are demanding the suspension of the police officials involved and a proper investigation.
“I want justice for my daughter. I want those men to be hanged,” Imran added.
Meanwhile, Congress members present at the panchayat warned that if strict action is not taken, they will protest outside the SP office.
