In a hate crime that shook the country, 16-year old Junaid Khan was stabbed to death by an angry mob on the auspicious festival of Eid. In a recent development, the Haryana Railway Police have arrested four people in connection with the case. Shockingly, one of them is a 50-year-old Delhi Jal Board official, while the other is a 31-year-old health department inspector.
The other two arrested are youths in their 20’s working in a private company in South Delhi. All four of the suspects are from Khambi village near Palwal. Another identified was arrested over the weekend. He has admitted to being intoxicated and part of the mob.
Junaid and his cousins were travelling by train when the group made remarks such as “beef-eater”, “anti-nationals” to instigate them.
“The case stands solved and we are taking measures to ensure that the other accused are arrested at the earliest,” Haryana DGP B S Sandhu said.
However, the main accused who stabbed Junaid is yet to be identified and arrested. He was caught trying to flee on a bike in a CCTV visual that was recovered from the railway station.
During interrogation, the DJB staffer told the police that he and the other government employee got on at Okhla and the others at Bata Chowk. They entered the coach were Junaid was with his cousins – Mohsin, Moin and Haseem
The 31-year old inspector asked them to make space for the duo to sit. Junaid offered his seat to the 50-year old man, which made the inspector angry. He and the DJB staffer hurled communal abuses at the young boys. And when they protested, it became violent.
There was a youth behind them who jumped in and thrashed Junaid, and he was ultimately murdered after repeated stabbing. This sad incident occurred when the boys were getting back to their village in Ballabgarh, Haryana after shopping for Eid.