Haryana police formed a special investigation team on Friday after a Muslim barber alleged that four people cut off his right arm in Panipat on August 24.
Akhlaq Salmani, a resident of Saharanpur in Uttar Pradesh, told police that his arm was cut off around 1.30 am on August 24 in the town of Panipat, where he had gone looking for work. Salmani’s brother, Ikram, alleged that the crime was committed after the culprits allegedly saw the number 786 tattooed on his right arm. “My brother’s hand was cut off because 786 was written on his hand,” Ikram alleged. The number 786 has a sacred context in Islamic religious scriptures.
Panipat Police Superintendent Manisha Chaudhary confirmed the crime, but added that Salmani did not mention the tattoo in her complaint. The FIR, presented on September 7, said that around 1.30 am on August 24, Salmani was near the Kishanpur area of Panipat, searching for water. When he called a house, four people allegedly attacked him with sticks and bricks, dragged him to a nearby saw, and cut off his right arm with a chainsaw. They later left him near the train tracks, the FIR added.
However, a second FIR filed on September 7alleged that Akhlaq sodomized a young man on August 23 and had his hand cut off when he fell on nearby train tracks while fleeing the scene. Both FIRs were presented on September 7 after he recorded his statement from a hospital bed at PGIMS, Rohtak, where the police admitted him after seeing him on the train tracks on August 24.
“An SIT has been formed under Panipat DSP Satish Vats to investigate both cases and the police will soon contact Akhlaq to join the investigation,” Chaudhary said.
When Salmani arrived at his home in the town of Nanauta in the Saharanpur district on September 8, his family alleged that he was attacked for his religion. This sparked a political dispute with Saharanpur MP and Bahujan Samaj Party Leader Fajlur Rehman, Samajwadi Party District Chairman Rudrasen and Bhim Army District Chairman Raj Gautam visiting Salmani’s home. .
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