In one of its kind brutal attack on minors, Maqbool Ansari and Naushad Ansari thrashed two boys for plucking lichi from a farm they guarded. Notably, one of the minor boys identified as Deepak Kumar died on the spot while the condition of the other boy is critical as he is admitted to the ICU.
A First Information Report (number–209/2023) was registered at the Bathnaha police station on May 20. This correspondent called up the Station House Officer, Bathnaha, Ashok Prashad on May 22. Prashad was reluctant to even share the charges invoked against the culprits.
He said, the case was sensitive and he cannot share the details. As per the victim’s family, the accused have been booked under IPC sections 302 (murder), 307 (attempt to murder), 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 506 (criminal intimidation) and others.
The accused man has been identified as Maqbool Ansari who runs a cycle repair shop in the village. With him were two of his son, Nek Mohammad and Naushad Ansari, both of them run autorickshaws in the village. Soon after the complaint was registered, the accused left the village. Even after two days of the attack, the police have failed to track the culprits.
In the complaint letter shared with the Organiser on May 20, the victim’s father told the police that, on May 20 around 5-6 children of the village were playing in the ground. The children were plucking Lichi from the tree, and Maqbool first shouted at them. Some of the children left but Maqbool nabbed two of them. Both of them were identified as 12-year-old Deepak and 12-year-old Guddu.
Maqbool was accompanied by his son Naushad and Nek Mohammad and they all locked the kids up and thrashed them mercilessly. Deepak died on the spot.
On May 22, this correspondent called up Guddu’s father Bhuneshwar Gain, he said, his son was struggling between death and life all because of Maqbool. He added, there are only around 5 Muslim families in the village, but still, they had made our lives hell.
Bhubaneswar works as a truck driver and has five children including Guddu, who is in the hospital. On the other hand, Deepak’s father works as a labourer. Both of them belong to the Vaishya Samaj. Their caste falls under the Other Backward Class (OBC) category.
https://twitter.com/subhi_karma/status/1660499381253189638?s=20
It is pertinent to mention here that, the villagers alleged that Maqbool and Naushad have a history of crime in the village. A few years ago Naushad a person with his auto in Dighi village. Also, a few years ago while the village organised a Kuldevta Puja, he arranged as many as 100 swords and threatened the village. Only with the police intervention, the situation was taken under control.
