A 24-year-old Muslim youth, identified as Wasim Qureshi aka Monu was allegedly beaten up and pushed into a pond over the suspicion of smuggling cow meat in Madhopur village on Saturday in Haridwar district.
The body was discovered the next day early in the morning.
Wasim, a fitness enthusiast and a gym owner was a resident of Sohlpaur Gada, a neighbourhood of Madhopur. According to the family, he went to meet his sister who got married two months ago. On his way back home, near a graveyard, he was chased by a team of cattle protection squad of Uttarakhand and allegedly beaten and then thrown into the pond.
Family and Locals of the area have alleged that the cattle protection squad of Uttarakhand chased him, tied his legs and brutally assaulted him before throwing him into the pond without any provocation by Wasim.
Police alleged that a six-membered team was assigned to patrol the area after a tip-off that cows are smuggled into the area when the team approached Wasim, who according to the Police was on a scooter, tried to escape, tripped and fell directly into the pond.
Wasim’s discovered body had bruises over the face, an eye severely damaged and marks over the body. The photos and videos went viral on social media platforms. Denying this evidence, Uttarakhand Police tweeted on X that the photos and videos were ‘misleading’ and stated that strict action has been taken by Haridwar Police about the matter.
Speaking to The Observer Post, Alauddin, Wasim’s elder cousin, raised many questions. He said in a shivering tone, “If everything happened according to the Police’s statement, why did we find his body in that condition?”
Although no case has been registered against the squad team, three FIRs have been registered. One of the FIRs is against Alauddin.
“He was shirtless when we found him, did he go out without a shirt?” Alauddin questioned.
Denying the statement of Uttarakhand Police that the news was fake and Wasim died due to drowning, he said, “ He was a bodybuilder, he knew how to swim. There is a video of him in which he falls into the pond on his back in slow motion, he used to bathe in the river. How could he not come up after falling in a pond this time?”
Reportedly, the locals heard Wasim screaming “Bachao, Bachao (Save me, Save me)”. Although police were present at the spot, they didn’t allow Wasim to swim. Locals alleged that when they tried to help, they were threatened to be shot by the Police. The police have denied the video evidence of Wasim as well.
A local resident, Abdul Salam, while talking to The Observer Post said, “Everybody woke up when they heard Wasim scream and gathered there.”
“Police registered a case against some eyewitnesses who tried to help Wasim, they are scared now,” said Salam.
In the complaint, Alauddin named Sharad Singh, Sunil Saini, Praveen Saini and three anonymous policemen.
When asked about a statement made by a Haridwar senior superintendent, Alauddin said, “The postmortem report confirmed that he died due to drowning, no injuries were found,”
“We have seen his body in a very bad condition, they are all lying about the report.”
Wasim’s parents are said to be in deep shock and are unable to communicate after the tragedy. “Police are doing injustice and pressuring us by coming to our house frequently, they have misbehaved with our women many times, they are also threatening locals not to say anything to media persons,” Alauddin alleged.
Confirming that Wasim never smuggled meat on a scooty nor did he take scooty on that night, Alauddin said, “Many of his Hindu friends have also made videos affirming that he was never a part of cow smuggling.”
Police also said that when the body was found, many villagers gathered, held some policemen and assaulted them. Calling all of these allegations fake, Alauddin stated, “Nobody misbehaved with the police. The moment I saw my brother’s body, I said that we will not take law into our hands. We will file a complaint and demand justice.”
“The entire scene was recorded on my Instagram live, we have proof,” he said trying to catch his breath recalling the situation.
Demanding justice for the deceased, the family is pushing for a CBI enquiry into the case and is determined to knock on the doors of the High Court and Supreme Court if needed.
