Both incidents were reported in Rajrappa police station area of Jharkhand’s Ramgarh district on Tuesday.
Ramgarh police have denied any link between a motorcycle accident and recovery of the body of a 46-year-old man from the same area within hours of the accident. The family of the deceased has, however, claimed that the motorcycle belonged to the man whose body was discovered a kilometre from the accident spot. Beef had allegedly been recovered from the motorcycle after the accident.
Both incidents were reported in Rajrappa police station area of Jharkhand’s Ramgarh district on Tuesday.
According to police, a bike going from Ramgarh to Rajrappa was hit by an SUV around 8 am at Naya Mor, near Chitarpur village. The rider, police said, fled the spot after 15-20 bags of animal parts, suspected to be beef, spilled out of the bike’s boot. The SUV too sped off. The meat has been sent for testing.
The same day, at a desolate place called Mission Compound, near railway tracks and about a kilometre from the accident spot, police got information about the body of a 46-year-old man.
The body, which appeared to be decomposing, was taken to Sadar Hospital. Later, it was identified as that of Tauheed Ansari, son of Khaleel Ansari, a resident of Karma village in Mandu. The place where the body was found is 20 km from Tauheed’s village.
Acting SP Radha Prem Kishore said, “We have no doubt that these are unrelated incidents. The biker escaped. We are looking for him. The body recovered was at least 24-48 hours old. An FIR under charges of murder has been lodged. It is clear that the man was murdered. But, the reason behind his murder and identity of the accused are being ascertained. The victim’s family has not named anybody.”
Tauheed’s brother and an advocate, Naushad Alam, said, “Around noon, we got messages on WhatsApp with pictures of a body found near Chitarpur. I realised it was my brother’s. We went to the police station and identified the body. We also came to know of a bike from which beef was said to have been recovered. When we saw its registration number, we realised it was Tauheed’s. We feel my brother was killed in a pre-planned manner. He was beaten up and killed somewhere and his body dumped at Mission Compound.” He said Tauheed bought the bike second-hand. “It was still registered in name of the first owner.”
At his home, Tauheed’s youngest brother Murtaza Ali, a teacher, said, “We don’t know what exactly happened. But, the manner in which the body was found and the fact that beef was recovered indicates there was some kind of mob violence.” Murtaza said that on Tuesday, Tauheed left early. “I was sleeping, but he told family members that he would go through Chitarpur for some work.”
The two brothers said they were completely in the dark on the issue of beef being found on the bike. “I don’t know why and how he got beef on his motorcycle,” said Naushad.
Murtaza said Tauheed, who did odd jobs, lived in a semi-pucca house next to the pucca houses belonging to him and Naushad. “He has three children, one of them married. They left studies due to financial strains.”
“We want justice and compensation for my brother’s family. We feel he was lynched,” he said.
Inspector Sachhida Prasad Singh, who is investigating the case, “Our probe has revealed that the bike belonged to one Mohammad Hanif who is absconding. The claim of the family has not been verified yet. We are probing further and the case would be cracked soon.” He said some people with vested interests could be trying to fan communal passions.