Two Muslim farmers, Samiullah Ansari (45), and his paternal cousin, Hamid Ansari (43), were allegedly hit by a Police Response Vehicle (PRV)-112 in Gaura village of Rampur Karkhana Town in Deoria district of Uttar Pradesh, leaving the former dead and the latter severely injured.
The incident occurred on the intervening night of Thursday, September 21, around 1 a.m. near Wisdom School. The Ansari cousins were returning from their paddy fields, where they had been irrigating as usual on their bicycles, when they were struck by a car with a blue flashing light.
Samiullah Ansari succumbed to his injuries on the spot and was declared dead by the government hospital staff, while Hamidullah Ansari, who incurred severe injuries, was admitted to the hospital by the villagers.
Shehla Khatoon (37), who was Samiullah’s wife until September 21, is now a widow and a single mother responsible for looking after her four children and elderly mother-in-law.
Khatoon told Maktoob, “Every two to three days, they would go to the fields at night to irrigate them. That night, everyone was asleep, and I was waiting for him to return, but he didn’t.”
“Instead, Hamid came running and informed us that they had been hit by a police vehicle. Villagers arrived at the scene and rushed him to the hospital, but by then, he had already died,” she said.
Khatoon claimed that the police didn’t let her and her kids see Samiullah’s dead body before burying it. After the postmortem, they took him directly to the graveyard instead of home.
“After the postmortem at the hospital, the police took him directly to the graveyard for the funeral. Villagers and others performed his last rites. My kids and I couldn’t see him for one last time,” she claimed.
Khatoon recalled that while Samiullah was alive, she never had to worry about anything and never had to step out to get any household stuff.
“Now I am running from pillar to post; sometimes they call us to the police station, and sometimes I have to speak with the media. When Saleem’s father was here, I never had to think about anything. Everything was easily available at home, at my disposal. I just had to order once to my husband,” said Khatoon.
Samiullah left behind his 4 children, Saleem, Sameer, Mehrunnisa, and Kaneez. The eldest one is in the 12th standard, and the others are also school-going.
Khatoon said, “They don’t even know how they are going to manage things in the future, it’s me and them now. We don’t have anyone.”
On the other hand, Hamid Ansari, who was with Samiullah, got severely injured during the incident. He recalled that as flashing lights torched their eyes from the front, they couldn’t see anything. After being hit by the vehicle, they fell down on the street.
“Samiullah lost consciousness after a few minutes, and our cycle was not in a condition to move. So, I started running towards the village to inform the family about the incident. We were taken to the hospital, where Samiullah died,” said Hamid.
Hamid recalled, “After the car hit us, it didn’t stop to offer help. It was the 112 vehicle, and both the car and the driver left us there and fled the scene. If they had helped us, Samiullah might still be alive.”
Local reports suggest that, outraged by Samiullah’s death and Hamid’s injuries, villagers organised a protest demanding justice for the deceased and action against the police officer involved in the incident.
As protests intensified, Deoria police resorted to a lathi-charge to disperse the demonstrators and deployed a large number of police personnel in the area in an attempt to maintain law and order. The police have also established a buffer zone in the area.
The police have allegedly filed charges against more than 200 people, including some minors.
Maktoob’s calls to Deoria Police went unanswered. We will update the report as soon as we receive a response.
“When the villagers were protesting, the police lathi-charged us. I was also there and got injured during the police assault. They used batons on us,” said Khatoon.
Subsequently, two separate cases were registered by the police – one on September 23, against 28 people along with 200 unknown assailants for allegedly unlawfully assembling, rioting, and damaging public property including other severe sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), and – the other on September 24, against a car bearing registration number UP52 AL2007 under several sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) including Section 279 (related to rash driving or riding on a public way), Section 337 (attempt of causing hurt by act endangering life or personal safety of others), Section 338 (concerned with causing grievous hurt by act endangering life or personal safety of others), and Section 304-A (addressing causing death by negligence).
No complaint has been filed by either of the families so far, but they are demanding justice.
Khatoon said, ‘We went to seek justice, but all we got were batons—Hum to insaf mangne gaye they, hume to lathiyan mili.”
Locals also claim that, after the police action, people are living in fear, and some are even temporarily leaving the area due to the fear of being apprehended.
Ghazala Lari, Former MLA, and Samajwadi Party leader told Maktoob, “Both the families are in shock and scared at the moment, I spoke with them over the phone and will visit them tomorrow.”
She said, “I will ensure that their complaint is taken and registered, a proper investigation is conducted, and those responsible are punished as soon as possible.”
When asked about the apprehension of more than 200 people, she replied, “I have no information about it.”
Maktoob tried to reach out to current Bhartiya Janata Party MLA Surendra Chauhan, but received no response to multiple calls.
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