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'They Slaughtered Cows, So I Slaughtered Them': NDTV Exposé On Hapur Lynching

The accused also claimed that the police supported them because of the incumbent UP government.
People shout anti-government slogans during a protest against what the demonstrators say are recent mob lynchings across the country, in Ahmedabad, India, July 23, 2018. REUTERS/Amit Dave
Amit Dave / Reuters
People shout anti-government slogans during a protest against what the demonstrators say are recent mob lynchings across the country, in Ahmedabad, India, July 23, 2018. REUTERS/Amit Dave

In an expose on the Hapur lynching, news channel NDTV has caught one of the main accused in the case proudly admitting on camera that he had beaten 45-year-old Qasim Qureshi to death, while he had stated in court that he had no part to play in the crime.

If what the accused, Rakesh Sisodia, has told NDTV is true, the exposé reveals how the system of justice was titled towards the accused who lynched a man to death on rumours of cow slaughter.

"Haan maine bola ki wo gaaye kaat rahe they, maine usko kaat diya... jailer ke saamne (I told the jailer that they [the victims] were slaughtering cows so I slaughtered them)," Sisodia told NDTV reporters who posed as researchers doing field work on the RSS.

Sisodia also claimed that he was not scared when he went to jail and was given a hero's welcome when he came out of prison. He claimed that around four cars came to take him home and people were raising slogans in his name, which made him feel proud.

While a non-bailable warrant was issued against against Sisodia and the other accused in the case, they were granted bail by a sessions court in Hapur.

All the accused in the case are resident of Bajedha Khurd village in Uttar Pradesh's Hapur.

Sisodia also explicitly told NDTV that they (the accused in the lynching case) had support of the police because of the government that is in power.

Huffpost India had reported in July that the police investigation in the case seemed dodgy given that the FIR said that Qasim was a victim of road rage, even though the case diary of the incident had indicated that his murder was related to slaughtering a cow.

The report had also said that while the police had claimed that they had taken a statement from Samiuddin, another victim of the incident who survived, Qasim had told Huffpost India that the police had never taken his statement.

In an interview with Huffpost India, Samiuddin had said that his statement submitted in the court had been concocted by the police. He had said, "The police did not take my statement. When I was in the ICU (Intensive Care Unit), at times conscious, other times unconscious, not in a good shape, the police came once or twice and asked for a statement, but I said that I'm not in a position to give a statement, and that is why I cannot say anything."

Qasim's wife had also questioned the police investigation in the case saying she was shocked that despite there being video evidence, the accused were allowed to walk free.

Read the entire NDTV expose here.

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This article exists as part of the online archive for HuffPost India, which closed in 2020. Some features are no longer enabled. If you have questions or concerns about this article, please contact indiasupport@huffpost.com.