UP 'gau rakshak' who shot biryani seller over 'Pahalgam revenge' held; cops call it 'publicity stunt'
AGRA: Police have arrested the self-proclaimed '
gau rakshak
' (cow vigilante) who allegedly shot dead a biryani seller in Agra's Tajganj area on Wednesday night and later claimed in a video that it was a retribution to the
Pahalgam attack
.
Agra police commissioner Deepak Kumar said the arrested suspect had in the video identified himself as Manoj Chaudhary, a self-proclaimed 'gau rakshak' and alleged member of the Kshatriya Gau Raksha Dal. The suspect was arrested following multiple raids across Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan, sources said on Sunday.
On the night of April 23, Gulfam Ali, 27 - who worked at Shahid Ali Chicken Biryani, owned by his cousin - was closing the shop when three men arrived on a scooter. Two of them approached and greeted him before one of them shot him in the chest.
Police had dismissed gau rakshak link; said likely 'publicity stunt'
His co-worker Saif Ali, 25, suffered minor injuries in the attack. The assailants escaped after the shooting.
Hours later, a video circulated online showing Chaudhary, with pistols tucked in his jeans, alleging he was from Kshatriya Gau Raksha Dal and taking responsibility for the murder. He claimed that he will avenge the killing of 26 - in an apparent reference to the Pahalgam incident - with 2600.
Police had earlier dismissed the link of the murder to any operational Kshatriya Gau Raksha Dal unit in Agra, adding the video was "likely a publicity stunt."
After the arrest, police commissioner Deepak Kumar reiterated the cops' earlier stance, saying, "The crime seems to have been committed as a result of a quarrel over the quality of food served by the biryani seller a few days ago."
Gulfam is survived by his wife, Fiza, 23, and their three children - eight-month-old Mahir Raza, two-and-a-half-year-old Farhan and five-year-old Jannat.
His father, Imam Baksh, told TOI, "Who will support them now? I don't know why my son was killed. He had no enmity with anyone. I request govt to provide financial assistance to the family."
"That video was made to derail the Hindu-Muslim unity in the area. We believe in the law and the Constitution, and the accused should get punishment as per the law," added Baksh.
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