Handicapped youth held for minor’s murder at 1090

LUCKNOW :After arresting a handicapped youth Mohammed Kalam (24), the city police on Thursday claimed to have worked out the murder of a 10-year-old balloon seller at 1090 crossing. Kalam also sells balloons on the same stretch.

Senior superintendent of police (SSP), Lucknow Deepak Kumar said Kalam was arrested as the victim’s family voiced suspicion against him and gave an application against him because he had a brawl with the victim over selling balloons and also troubled the victim’s teenage sister. He said Kalam had confessed to murdering the minor boy after an argument with him on Monday night.

The SSP, however, did not present any corroborative evidence against Kalam, who was popular among visitors at the 1090 crossing for his helping nature and kind behaviour and who was also given the Rani Laxmi Bai Award for saving a girl who had jumped into the Gomti in 2016.

The SSP admitted that Kalam was not visible in footage of any CCTV installed around the 1090 crossing and its rotary where the minor boy’s body was found on Tuesday afternoon.

Though he said the video footage from all angles around the 1090 rotary was not very clear, a handicapped youth should easily be identified with his gait.

On Wednesday, the city police had released the video footage of a suspect who entered the rotary at around 12.50 am and came out at around 1.45 am. The suspect, who was carrying a bag on his back, thereafter boarded a tempo and left the place.

Contrary to the police claims, the victim boy’s maternal uncle said that the cops from Sultanganj police outpost of Hazratganj area approached him at around 3pm on Thursday asking for a written complaint against Kalam as they suspected his involvement in the murder.

He said they gave the complaint as they too suspected Kalam but only after the police approached them on Thursday afternoon. He said the only reason to suspect Kalam was statement of the victim’s brother that Kalam had a brawl with the victim over selling balloons two days before the incident and he had threatened the victim with dire consequences. Earlier, the family had lodged an FIR of murder against an unidentified person.

The SSP argued that Kalam, who was always found near the 1090 crossing, was missing after the boy’s murder and his mobile phone was also switched off since Tuesday morning. He said some other vendors at the 1090 crossing also raised suspicion over Kalam’s mysterious disappearance.

He said the Hazratganj police team started searching for Kalam and arrested him from his hideout.

A vendor outside the Hazratganj police station, however, stated the handicapped youth himself turned up before the police at around 1.30 pm on Thursday.

The police later showed the arrest of the same youth in connection with the murder of the minor boy.