Extremism
Muslim cab driver murdered in Noida was told to chant ‘Jai Shri Ram’ before killing, says family
The family of the cab driver from Delhi, who was found dead in his car while coming home after dropping the passengers in Bulandshahr city of Uttar Pradesh, have alleged that their kin was made to chant “Jai Shri Ram” before he was killed.
The family has held responsible the passengers from UP for the murder of the deceased cab driver identified as Aftab Amal, as Amal had picked up them while coming back to Delhi.
Meanwhile, police, according to a report by NDTV, have “denied any communal angle” in the death of the 45-year-old Amal whose vehicle Maruti Suzuki Dzire compact sedan, was later found by a police patrol in Greater Noida’s Badalpur, 57 km from Delhi.
“After dropping a passenger in Bulandshahr, Mr Amal picked up three people in the return leg. At some point during the drive, Amal called home using his mobile phone,” Sabir, the son of the deceased cab driver, was quoted by the reported as having said.
Sabir told the news organization that as soon as he felt something wrong during the call he decided to record the call.
“Papa must have felt these people were not good, so he rang me and kept his phone aside in the car, with the call still active. Then I started recording. 7-8 minutes into the call they are heard telling papa to chant ‘Jai Shri Ram’, which he did… They made him stop the car, then killed him. They did not loot him. There is not a scratch in the car. The wallet was not stolen,” Sabir was further quoted as saying.
In this regard while denying the communal angle, police, according to the report, said that an “argument broke out over the ride fare, which escalated and led to the killing.”
The passengers of the deceased, according to report, said “Jai Shri Ram” in a manner of greeting to a roadside peanut hawker when the vehicle stopped somewhere on the way to Delhi.
“As far the ‘Jai Shree Ram’ chant is concerned, the passengers were drinking and they were talking to a peanut hawker. That conversation is not between the cab driver and the people sitting in the car,” the report quoted Central Noida Deputy Commissioner of Police Harish Chandra as having said.
“The entire audio clip is 40 minutes long. After saying ‘Jai Shri Ram’, the people in the cab spoke for some time and the conversation seemed to be going well. They sounded like they were having fun and laughing among themselves,” Chandra added.
As of now, reportedly no one has been identified as the accused or arrested yet. The police are checking CCTV footage from a toll booth on National Highway 91 to try to identify the cab passengers.
As the accused passengers boarded the vehicle from UP, Noida Police have transferred the case to the police in Bulandshahr.
Earlier in week, a man from UP was beaten to death in the presence of policemen in state’s Kushinagar area.
The incident followed another killing as a middle aged man lost his life after being ruthlessly beaten by five men at his home over “rumours of selling his daughter.”
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