Main accused in Junaid case was a private guard
Police say the accused has confessed to stabbing 16yearold Junaid Khan; family demands death for accused; next hearing in the case fixed for July 11
The suspected knifeman in the murder of teenager Junaid Khan on a suburban train in Ballabhgarh worked as a private guard in New Delhi and was looking for a job in Maharashtra’s Dhule, where he was hiding after the June 22 attack. The 32-year-old man from Haryana, whose identity cannot be revealed because of legal reasons, was caught after a fortnight-long hunt.
The suspected knifeman in the murder of teenager Junaid Khan on a suburban train in Ballabhgarh worked as a private guard in New Delhi and was looking for a job in Maharashtra’s Dhule, where he was hiding after the June 22 attack.
The 32-year-old man from Haryana’s Palwal district, whose identity cannot be revealed because of legal reasons, was caught after a fortnight-long hunt and produced before a Faridabad court on Sunday. He was remanded in police custody for two days. The news of his arrest delighted Junaid’s family, who wants the killer to be sent to the gallows. “I appeal to the authorities to pronounce the death penalty for the accused and arrest the remaining people involved in the case. Such incidents are happening every day in every part of the nation. We are living in fear,” said Junaid’s father, Jalaluddin Khan.
The boy’s mother too demanded the capital punishment. “My son was innocent. I lost him as no one came to his rescue. Exemplary punishment should be given to all the accused, but the man who stabbed Junaid should be hanged,” she said.
The muscular man of medium height was part of a lynch mob that attacked 16-year-old Junaid, his two brothers — Mohammad Hashim and Shaqir Khan — and cousin Mobin after an altercation over seats on the Mathura-bound train. The brothers were returning to their Ballabhgarh home after Eid shopping in New Delhi.
The mob called them “beef-eaters” and “anti-nationals”, and flung their skullcaps off their heads.
It was the latest in a string of fatal attacks on Muslims. Junaid’s murder triggered national outrage and protests as it became the latest example of growing religious intolerance in India.
Police said the main suspect stayed at his home for at least three days after attack and went to Mathura, Vrindavan and Dhule to evade arrest. He was caught near a temple in the Sakre township on Saturday.
“He had visited relatives in Sakre before and even worked there for some time,” an officer said.The man has allegedly confessed during interrogation to have killed Junaid.
He was carrying a knife he had bought at Shivaji market in the Capital, railway police superintendent Kamal Deep Goyal said.
“The accused got down at Asaoti railway station and fled on a motorcycle. Two men were on the bike but the biker, who is not an acquaintance, gave him a lift.”
Footage from surveillance cameras near the railway station helped catch the suspect, besides the sketch made from Hashim’s description of the knifeman. It was not an easy case to crack as thousands of people travel between New Delhi and Mathura.