Main accused in Junaid case was a private guard in Delhi
FARIDABAD: 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.
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