Team Clarion

LUCKNOW — Twelve policemen have been booked for killing a 42-year-old Muslim man in Deoband city of Uttar Pradesh. The victim, Zeeshan Haider, was implicated in a case of alleged cow slaughter.

The state police filed a complaint against 12 police officers for their involvement in the killing of 42-year-old Haider, who was shot on September 5, 2021.

The victim’s family said that he was falsely implicated in a cow slaughter case, media reports said on Wednesday.

The police wrongly accused Haider of being involved in a case involving the slaughter of cows, his relatives told media men.

The case against police officials was initiated after Afroz, the victim’s wife, petitioned the Saharanpur Chief Judicial Magistrate in November 2021.

Afroz testified in court that she and her husband were at home when the police called to inquire about something. She claimed that Haider’s family was later notified that he had a bullet wound in the foot. At the hospital, he was pronounced dead.

The police claimed that they had received a tip-off about cow slaughter and raided a location where they found Haider and a few others with country-made weapons, media reports said.

“They (the alleged cattle smugglers) fired at the police team and Haider was struck by a bullet from one of their weapons,” the police claimed. “He was taken to a hospital where he succumbed.”

Haider’s family disputes the police version, however.

Murder case has been filed against sub-inspectors Omveer, Yashpal Singh, and Asgar Ali, head constables Sukhpal Singh, Kunwar Bharat, Pramod Kumar, and Vipin, as well as the constables Rajveer Singh, Devendra, Neetu Yadav, Ankit Kumar, and Brajesh Kumar, according to reports.

Superintendent of Police (Dehat) Suraj Rai, said: “Further legal action will be taken after the entire episode is probed.”

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File photo used for illustrative purposes only.