No arrest three days after 22-year-old dies of beating

JAIPUR: THE POLICE SAID THEY HAD DETAINED SOME MEN FOR INVESTIGATION IN THE CASE, BUT DID NOT DIVULGE DETAILS ABOUT THE PROBE

Three days after a man died after he was beaten up by some unknown people at Kheri village in Chittorgarh district and the police filed a murder case, no one was arrested.

The police said they had detained some men for investigation, but did not divulge details about the probe.

Azhar Khan, 22, was beaten up by unidentified men at the Kheri village on September 17 allegedly for fishing and dirtying area near a temple on the banks of Ruparel river.

The man died in hospital on September 22.

Azhar Khan’s uncle Riyaz Khan registered an FIR against unknown people the same day at the Parsoli police station. Parsoli SHO Praveen Singh said the police detained some men for interrogation on Tuesday, but refused to share their names.

Azhar Khan had gone to Ruparel river near Kheri village on September 17 with three friends, Shahnawaz Khan (23), Naushad Khan (47) and Anwar Khan (41), for fishing, police said. “Some men guarding their fields chased the four men on seeing them. Three managed to escape. Azhar Khan was caught by them and beaten up with lathis (stick),” the Parsoli SHO said. He was taken to the Chittorgarh district hospital, from where he was referred to the Udaipur medical college, where doctors announced him dead on arrival, he added.

Anwar Khan, who was among the four men who had gone to the river for fishing on the day of incident, said, “Some people from a nearby farm were keeping an eye on us, as we laid the fishing net in the river. We returned home after putting the net and returned around 8pm to collect the catch. Around 8.30pm, when we were passing by a field, some men accosted us. They called out to more men around them. As men began to gather around us, Shanawaz, Naushad and I ran from there.”

About half an hour later, Anwar Khan called Azhar Khan to find out his whereabouts. “He told me he had been beaten up and was lying at the spot we were accosted,” said Anwar Khan.

The three friends reached the spot and brought Azhar Khan home on their motorcycle. Anwar Khan said he didn’t tell his (Azhar Khan’s) family about the incident and told them that he got injured in an accident. However, when Azhar Khan’s condition worsened, he (Azhar Khan) told his family members about what had happened to him.

“He was taken to the Chittorgarh district hospital on September 18, from where he was referred to Udaipur. He died after five days of treatment,” said Azhar Khan’s another uncle Afroz Khan.

There was tension in Bicchor village when Azhar Khan’s body was handed over to his family after the postmortem. “The dispute between the two parties had been for a long time, as there was a temple near the river. The youths caught fish and sorted them in the locality. They left the waste there which had caused heated arguments on previous occasions,” said a police official, who didn’t want to be named.

Afroz Khan said Azhar Khan worked as a private bus conductor and was youngest among four siblings.