A cleric beaten to death inside a mosque in Rajasthan

A cleric beaten to death inside a mosque in Rajasthan

Ajmer (India), May 01 - Three days after a maulvi was beaten to death inside a mosque in Rajasthan, the police could not trace the accused. They could not even tell the reason why he was killed.

The police claim that those involved in the murder will be arrested soon, but there is anger among the local people over the whole matter.

An old man and some children were climbing the stairs of Ramganj police station under Ajmer district. Everyone dressed in kurta pajama had a look of disappointment on their faces.

The old man came along with his nephew and some children to record their statements regarding the killing of Maulana Mahir.

How Maulana was killed in the mosque

The Mohammadi Mosque is located in Kanchan Nagar, about three kilometers from Ramganj Police Station in Ajmer District, Rajasthan. There is some empty land in front of the mosque and some policemen in white were sitting inside.

When you enter the mosque square built on about four hundred yards of land, the main mosque is on the right and a house in front of it. The house was locked by the police so that no one could enter.

It was in this room that Maulana Muhammad Mahir was beaten to death with a stick around 2:30 am on April 27th. Maulana's family took the body to Uttar Pradesh after the post-mortem. He was buried there on 28 April.

After Maulana's murder, the Muslim community protested at the collector's office in Ajmer and demanded the arrest of the accused.

What are the police saying?

Rabindra Kumar Khichchi, OC of Ramganj police station, said, "On the 27th, the police station got a report that Maulana Muhammad Mahir had been murdered. We reached the spot and learned that three unknown persons came and beat him to death with a stick."

The deceased Maulana's uncle hails from Uttar Pradesh. He is 50 years old. He remained in Ajmer to record his statement at the police station.

He was saying, “We want the culprits to be caught and punished severely. The police have assured that the culprits will be nabbed, but no one has been arrested so far.”

Shoaib lives near Mohammadi Mosque. Maulana had a conversation with him.

"We demand that the killers should be arrested quickly and his family should be given two crore Indian rupees as compensation and one of the family members should be given a government job.", he added.

Three days later no one has been arrested

On the third day after the killing of Maulana Muhammad Mahir, on April 29, the police did not find any trace of the accused. OC of the police station, Khichchi, however, said, "Forensic team and dog squad have been called to the scene and evidence has been collected.

"An FIR has been filed in the police station, investigation is on. No one has been arrested so far. If the three are arrested, the reason for the murder and who else is involved will be known."

He said that efforts are being made to collect information about the accused with the help of CCTV and other technical assistance. Is communalism somehow involved in this murder? Responding to this question, the OC said, "No communal matter has been found yet."

Asif Khan, who is in charge of looking after the mosque, says, "If the police do not make arrests quickly, then we will take action with the opinion of the people of the society, we will sit on dharna." Since the incident, the children staying in the mosque are staying at the house of former Maulana Zakir Sahib of the mosque. Now nobody lives in the mosque, people only come to pray.”

Some of the witnesses are minors

Six minor children from Uttar Pradesh lived with Maulana Muhammad Mahir in the house in the mosque premises. Maulana Mahir and the children were all sleeping together in the same room at the time of the incident.

After recording his statement at the Ramganj police station, one of the children, Sajid (name changed), said, “I have been studying in the mosque for two years.

“After eating we all slept in the room with Maulana Sahib. Suddenly some people came and started beating Maulana Sahib with sticks, then all of the children woke up.

''They were three men. All were dressed in black and had masks on their faces, with sticks in their gloved hands.”

Narrating the incident, Sajid said, "They threatened us and threw us out of the house. One of the three men was guarding us. He threatened us that if we make any noise or shout, he will kill us too."

Sajid also said that after a while everyone escaped by climbing the back wall. The elder two stayed near Maulana Muhammad Mahir while the rest ran to inform the neighbors.

Maulana had a good relationship with everyone

A man living next to the mosque was showing us a picture of Maulana Muhammad Mahir. In the picture, Maulana is wearing a white kurta pajama, a flower garland around his neck and a big beard on his face. It can be seen that he was a calm person.

The deceased Maulana Mahir's uncle Akram was saying with wet eyes and strained voice, "We have no enmity with anyone. Maulana Sahib never said that anyone was threatening or creating any trouble. In our village on the banks of the Ganga in Uttar Pradesh, very few people live, ours is a very happy village.”

Shoaib, an acquaintance of Maulana Mahir, said, "Maulana Sahib used to do his work. He used to treat everyone, regardless of Hindus and Muslims. He was a very friendly person.

Asif Khan, who is in charge of looking after Mohammadi Masjid, said, "We have had three Maulanas in our mosque. Out of the three, this Maulana was the best behaved."-BBC