Bahraich Violence: 5 Suspects Held After Shootout With UP Cops

At least five suspects of the Bahriach violence trying to flee to Nepal were arrested after a shootout.

Bahraich: Five suspects in the killing of a man that triggered violence in Bahraich were arrested here Thursday after a shootout with the Uttar Pradesh Police in which two of them suffered gunshot injuries, a senior official said. The five, accused of fomenting communal tension during a Durga Puja procession and killing a 22-year-old man, were allegedly trying to flee to Nepal, which shares a border with Bahraich district in Uttar Pradesh, the officer said.

The gunfight took place in the Hada Basehari area under the Nanpara police station limits near the Nepal border, according to the official. Hada Basehari is around 15 km from Rupaidiha -- a transit point between India and Nepal. "Five accused have been arrested," Additional Director General of Police (Law and Order) Amitabh Yash said.

He said, "I have information of exchange of fire and gunshot injuries." Yash, who is also the chief of the Special Task Force of the Uttar Pradesh Police, said the Bahraich police, investigating the murder and subsequent violence, has already established the link of one of the accused in Nepal.

He said that two of the accused injured in the shootout were in stable condition. Director General of Police (DGP) Prashant Kumar said those arrested have been identified as Mohammad Faheen, Mohammad Sarfaraz and Abdul Hameed, who are named accused in the FIR -- and two others Mohammad Taleem alias Sabloo and Mohammad Afzal.

According to Kumar, a police team arrested Faheen and Taleem. Acting on the information given by the duo, the team went to recover the weapon used in the murder in the Nanpara area, however, it came under fire from Hameed, Sarfaraz and Afzal. In retaliatory firing, Sarfaraz and Taleem were injured.

"They are being treated. The weapon used in the murder has been recovered," the UP Police chief said in a statement. A doctor at the local Nanpara health care centre said, "Two people were brought here around 2.35 pm. One of them was Sarfaraz and the other was Taleem. One of them had injuries on his left leg and the other on his right leg."

"I referred them to the district hospital in Bahraich. Both are in normal condition," he told reporters. Violence broke out in Maharajganj in the Mahsi tehsil of Bahraich district on Sunday allegedly over loud music being played outside a place of worship during a Durga Puja immersion procession.

A local, Ram Gopal Mishra, 22, part of the passing group, died of gunshot wounds in the ensuing violence, triggering vandalism and arson in the area with mobs torching several houses, shops, showrooms, hospitals and vehicles. After visiting the hospital, Superintendent of Police Vrinda Shukla told reporters that provisions of the National Security Act would be invoked in the case.

She said the accused were in a bid to cross over to Nepal when they were held in the Nanpara area of Bahraich district. Hameed, Sarfaraz and Faheen were named as accused in the FIR over the murder case while the names of the other two cropped up during the investigation, she said.

A total of 10 accused, four named and six unidentified, were mentioned as accused in the murder case. According to police, one accused in the case who was identified as Raja alias Sahir alias Danish was held on Wednesday while searches are underway to nab the other four unidentified people.

Meanwhile, Rukhsar, the daughter of accused Abdul Hameed, the landlord accused of firing at Mishra, said, "At around 4 pm yesterday, my father and two brothers, Sarfaraz and Faheem, and another youth were picked up by the UP STF."

"My husband and brother-in-law have already been picked up. There is no news of them. We fear that they may have been killed in an encounter," she claimed in a video. The incident has triggered a political slugfest with the opposition Congress and Samajwadi Party questioning the legitimacy of the police operation.

Talking to reporters in Lucknow, SP chief Akhilesh Yadav questioned the style of working of the state police and accused the BJP government of "ruining" the force. He said, that whenever there is an investigation, action will be taken against the guilty policemen and they will go to jail.

"This is a matter of a neighbouring district. You must know better than me that this incident (Bahraich violence) was staged," he said, pointing at the BJP without taking any names.

Uttar Pradesh Congress chief Ajay Rai told news agency PTI, "The authenticity of this encounter as those before this is suspected. These encounters appear to be mere face-saving acts aimed at diverting public attention." Reacting to the encounter, BJP spokesperson Rakesh Tripathi said Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has given a clear message that those who disturb the state's law and order will be dealt with strictly.

"Those directly or indirectly involved in the Bahraich violence and those who are conspiring to orchestrate riots will face strict action. Those who fire at police will face consequences. It will be better for those involved in the Bahraich incident to surrender before the police," he said.

Shortly after the encounter, the SP took to social media citing "rampant crimes" in the state and questioned if "riots and encounters" were being staged to divert people's attention from law and order issues.

"Crimes are rampant in the BJP-Yogi government, jewelery of women, sisters and daughters is being stolen and snatched. Are riots being instigated to divert public attention from these crimes and are encounters being carried out to hush the matter?" the SP's media cell posted on X. It also attached a clip of a Hindi news article with the headline: "Chain looted from a medicine trader by goons near a state minister's house in Muzaffarnagar".