Murder charges dropped in Tabrez Ansari lynching case, family demands CBI probe

People stage a demonstration against the lynching of Tabrez Ansari. (File Photo: IANS)


After murder charges were dropped against 11 accused in the death of Tabrez Ansari, who was attacked by a mob on June 18 in Jharkhand, his family has claimed that the case was changed under the influence of the administration.

Ansari’s wife alleged that there is an attempt to save the culprits and called for CBI investigation into the lynching case.

Citing the autopsy report which stated that Tabrez Ansari died of “cardiac arrest”, the Jharkhand Police dropped murder charge under IPC section 302 and filed chargesheet under Section 304 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder).

Karthik S, Saraikela-Kharsawan SP had stated that murder case could not be made based on the findings of the postmortem report.

A video that surfaced online showed Ansari tied to a pole and beaten by a mob for hours. The mob accused him of theft and assaulted him and allegedly forced him to chant “Jai Shri Ram and “Jai Hanuman”. After the assault, Ansari was arrested on charges of theft and sent to judicial custody. Four days later, Ansari was rushed to hospital where he succumbed to his injuries.

A day after police in Jharkhand dropped murder charges against the accused in the mob lynching of Tabrez Ansari, the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) called it a “conspiracy of secularists”.

“Tabrez’s post-mortem report released after an intensive investigation has not only clarified the reasons for his death but also exposed a major conspiracy of the secular gang,” said VHP Joint General Secretary Surendra Jain.

He blamed it on “the Khan Market Mafia, which has repeatedly been maligning Hindu society, India and humanity”. Jain also called them “nourishers” of “jehadi terrorists”.