Author: Aman Sharma
Publication: Indian Express
Dated: May 30, 2006
URL: http://indianexpress.com/story/5441.html
Three murders in 10 days, the same modus operandi
in each. And in each, the victim has been a prominent Hindu leader of Aligarh.
Two of the three killed had been arrested for allegedly inciting mobs on April
6 which saw six Muslims die in communal clashes. And now as tension rises
in Aligarh after the murder last night of local BJP leader Om Prakash Gupta,
Uttar Pradesh police point to the pattern in the killings and suspect it may
be a planned, retaliatory strike.
Two unidentified motorcyclists accosted O
P Gupta last night around 9.15 pm as he was locking his confectionery shop
in Aligarh's sensitive Kanwari Ganj area and shot him point-blank. Gupta died
at the spot, seconds after he was shot in the temple.
According to police, this was exactly how
two other traders, Raju Kumar 'Samosewala' and Raman Gupta, were shot on May
19 and May 22 respectively. Both died after being shot in the temple while
returning home from work late at night. And each time, the killers melted
into the night.
"The modus operandi in all three shootouts
is the same. Youths with faces covered come on a motorcycle, take the victim
by surprise in the dark, shoot him at point-blank range and then flee... It
is still a matter of investigation if the culprits are the same or if it is
a retaliation thing," SSP Aligarh Akhil Kumar told The Indian Express.
Uttar Pradesh police today announced a reward
of Rs three lakh for any clue leading to the arrest of the killers. Indefinite
curfew has been clamped in five police station areas of the town after Gupta's
murder last night triggered violence. Hindu protestors killed two persons
on the streets, suspecting them to be the killers.
Gupta and Raju Kumar were named by the police
in an FIR, even arrested and jailed for allegedly inciting the April 6 rioters.
Raman Gupta's name did not figure in the FIR.
Though the April 6 clashes were quickly quelled,
Aligarh remained tense, especially after a goof-up over the bodies.
The police mistook BJP MLA Devkinandan's son,
who died in the clashes, for a Muslim and had him buried. The body was later
exhumed and cremated. O P Gupta and other BJP leaders had slammed the police
role.
aman.sharma@expressindia.com