In a nightmare experience for the family of Godda lynching victim Chiraguddin ‘Charku’ Ansari, four vehicles full of policemen showed up at their home at around 11pm on July 19, 2018. Chiraguddin’s brother Hashimuddin who was present when this happened says, “They tried to take away Chiraguddin’s son Imran, alleging that he was involved in some looting case. When we tried to stop them they roughed up some of our people including women.”
Hashimuddin further alleges, “They are harassing us because Imran had gone to the Devdar police station even as Chiraguddin was being lynched and urged the officer in charge to rush to the spot. The officer had in turn demanded a bribe of Rs 2000, which Imran paid. But the officer failed to turn up and Chiraguddin died.”
Hashimuddin fears that the police are harassing and humiliating the family when Imran is about to get married to put pressure on him. “They came to disrupt our peace even as we were hosting a house full of wedding guests from faraway places like Delhi,” he says.
However, Godda SP Rajeev Ranjan Singh claims that Imran was never the intended target and that the police had gone there to talk to his neighbour and cousin Rafiq, against whom they had received a tip about being involved in a looting case. “This Rafiq is the son of Haris Ansari, a veteran criminal who was involved in cases of murder and kidnapping and had been absconding for 12 years. Haris was arrested and jailed recently. Now there are allegations against his son Rafiq that he was involved in a looting incident. Rafiq is also Chiraguddin’s nephew which probably why Imran’s family came out to defend him.”
SP Singh claims that the family interrupted police work and some of the women started creating a ruckus. “They also started pelting stones after which the police left the spot. We did not rough up any women,” insists SP Singh. “If we wanted we could have filed an FIR against them, but we were considerate towards them as they are the family of the lynching victim. So we just made an entry in the diary,” he says. “We have nothing against Imran. He can get married in peace. And if he wants he can talk to me personally about the corrupt policeman who demanded a bribe,” added SP Singh.
However, Hasimuddin rubbished claims of stone pelting. “We only raised our voices to alert the entire neighbourhood fearing an attack by the large number of policemen who had gathered outside our house,” he said. Hashimulla also said that the policemen did not name Rafiq and instead of going to his house next door, landed up at Imran’s house. Meanwhile, Imran’s family remained tense all of Friday hoping no further drama take place in the run up to his wedding.