23-Year-Old Muslim Killed By Police In UP, Refute Theft Accusation
A 23-year-old young Muslim man was killed by Uttar Pradesh cops on January 16. The police claimed that he was accused of theft and was killed in an encounter. Meanwhile, the family strongly insisted against the claims and called it a cold murder. The incident occurred in the district of Muzaffarnagar, reports Maktoob media.
The 23-year-old Matin left home to buy vegetables for his cart as usual and didn’t return home for lunch. The family received a phone call at 3:00 pm from Matin saying that he had been shot by police and was now admitted to the Medical Hospital Meerut.
After reaching the hospital, the family found Matin with severe injuries lying on a hospital stretcher, surrounded by police officers. As per Matin’s father, they were not allowed to meet him and were asked to wait.
“We were told that they would let us meet Matin in an hour. They kept telling us this for the rest of the day and even on the other day until 7:00 PM when we learned that he was no more,” said Sonu, the Maternal uncle of Matin.
However, the family members were not informed of the reason for his death. One of the family members claimed that the doctor at the hospital had conveyed to him that the cause of death was due to the bullet in the left side of his stomach. The body was handed over after postmortem but no report has been handed over to the family.
Matin’s father, Abrar, filed a police complaint at Mawana police station accusing the police of killing his son in a fake encounter on January 19.
In the complaint filed at the police station, he stated “My son has been killed by the police in a fake encounter. He was leading a normal life and was not involved in any case.” He told Maktoob, “No details of his treatment or postmortem report have been provided. The medical staff handed over his body to us on January 18 afternoon, and we performed his last rites the same day”.
When approached by Maktoob, Subhash Singh, Station House Officer at Mawana Police Station, said, “Matin was accused in a car theft case and was killed in an encounter.” When asked why the family’s complaint hasn’t been registered, he explained, “They have been provided with the GDR, and a separate cross-case cannot be registered when there is already a case of theft against Matin.” He further mentioned, “A judicial inquiry has been initiated in the case.” When pressed about following due legal process for Matin’s car theft accusation, the officer stated, “In clashes like these, both sides are injured; it’s common in crossfires during encounters.
Matin was the eldest sibling followed by two younger brothers and sisters. He was the only major earning hand, survived by his parents, one-year-old twins, and a wife who is now a widow.
Such encounters have been reported multiple times in Uttar Pradesh. At least 183 persons were killed in incidents of alleged exchange of fire in the last six years of the Yogi Adityanath-led- led Bhartiya Janata Party government in Uttar Pradesh, as reported by the police in April 2023.
