While Hapur SP Sankalp Sharma denied allegations that Kasim, 45, was dragged in the presence of cops, UP police posted a tweet apologising for the incident.
The tweet said the three policemen, visible in the picture, had been sent to Reserve Police Lines and an inquiry had been ordered.
A picture of the incident, wherein a mob lynched a Muslim man and injured another in Bajhera village of Pilakhua area in Hapur district on Monday evening, has triggered a fresh controversy.
The picture, which was widely circulated on social media, shows villagers dragging injured Kasim (who died later) in the presence of three cops.
While the superintendent of police (SP) of Hapur Sankalp Sharma denied allegations that Kasim, 45, was dragged in the presence of cops, the UP police posted a tweet from its official twitter handle apologising for the incident.
The tweet said the three policemen, visible in the picture that had gone viral on social media, had been sent to Reserve Police Lines and inquiry had been ordered into the incident.
“The policemen should have been sensitive in their conduct and should have taken him along in a better manner,” the tweet said.
However, the Hapur SP maintained it was found in initial investigation that the policemen, who had rushed to the spot on getting information, called Dial 100 (emergency police) and an ambulance to get Kasim and Samadeen (the other injured person) admitted in hospital.
The SP said the photo was taken after the incident and, seen in it are villagers taking Kasim to the ambulance on the direction of the policemen. He, however, didn’t deny the possibility that a few anti-social elements misbehaved with Kasim while he was being taken to the ambulance.
“I enquired from the cops, who are visible in the picture,” said Sharma adding that “further investigation will be carried out to verify their version”. Kasim had later succumbed to injuries while Samadeen is recuperating in hospital.
According to police, Kasim was lynched by a frenzied mob allegedly after a minor motorcycle accident. The mob also injured a farmer Samadeen, who was working in a nearby field.
Also, there were rumours that residents of Thakur dominated Bajhera village lynched Kasim suspecting his involvement in cow slaughter.
But police denied it and claimed that the killing was a fall out of a minor motorcycle accident which Kasim was driving. But his relative who was with him during metro cycle ride denied any such motorcycle accident.
A case has been registered against over two dozen residents of Bajhera village and police have arrested two villagers after identifying them on the basis of villagers’ statement, videos and photos.
“The process of identifying the perpetrators of the crime would go on and they would be sent to the jail soon,” said Sharma.
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