Candle marches were organized in various cities of Jharkhand in protest of Rupesh Pandey’s murder by Islamists during Saraswati Visarjan. 17-year old Rupesh Pandey was lynched by a mob of Islamists in the middle of a ruckus that emerged when a Saraswati Visarjan procession was passing from Lakhna Dulmaha Imambada of the Nai Taand village in Hazaribagh.

A crime report has been registered against 27 accused Muslims and 100 other unknowns and several leaders have come in the front to support the family of the boy. On 10th February 2022, various cities and towns in Jharkhand witnessed the outrage of the Hindu community over this incident of lynching by Islamists.

Protest March in Jamua

In Jamua of Giridih, Vishwa Hindu Parishad protested against the murder of Rupesh Pandey in Barhi by taking out a candle march on Thursday evening. The march started from Jamua Chowk and turned into a meeting after reaching the Main Chowk via Rajdhanwar Road, Deoghar Road. The people involved in the candle March demanded capital punishment for the killers of Rupesh Pandey.

People raised slogans for Rupesh Pandey and demanded justice. They questioned the government about the law and order in the state. A tribute meeting was organized at Jamua Chowk. People offered flowers to Rupesh’s photograph and prayed for his soul to attain Sadgati.

Thousands of people came on the streets of Chatra

The youth of Chatra took out a public protest rally on 10th February 2022 in protest against the murder in Barhi of Hazaribagh by Islamists. The youth demanded the government action against the culprits. The youths involved in the rally said that the state government is giving protection to the accused of mob lynching. People have warned that if strict action is not taken against the culprits, the protests will be more aggressive.

In view of the protests, security arrangements in the city were increased. All the officers including SDO Mumtaz Ansari, SDPO Avinash Kumar, BDO Ganesh Rajak, CO Bhagirathi Mahato, and the station in charge Luv Kumar were monitoring the activities.

Protest March in Dhanwar Bazar

Citizens of Dhanwar Bazar took out a protest march on 10th February 2022 to mark their outrage against the brutal lynching of Rupesh Pandey by the Islamists. Gautam Kishor led the march that started from Bada Chowk and passed from the main market areas and concluded at Gandhi Chowk. The slogans were raised by the protesters, They demanded immediate arrests of all the culprits and capital punishment for the killers.

Gautam Kishor said “The way our Hindu brother was killed, all of us are pained. We demand the resignation of Hemant Soren. We demand immediate arrests of the culprits and they must be hanged.”

Ex-CM Raghubar Das meets victim’s family, slams Hemant Soren for encouraging Jihadis

Rupesh Pandey’s murder by Islamists during the procession of Saraswati Visarjan in Hazaribagh is condemned by the people of Jharkhand. Protest marches have been carried out in many towns and cities of the state. Meanwhile, the former CM and BJP leader Raghubar Das has met the family of the deceased 17-year old minor boy on Friday 11th February 2022 and assured them to help in their battle for justice. Raghubar Das has accused the Hemant Soren government of Muslim appeasement.

Raghubar Das has termed the murder of Rupesh Pandey as a case of a planned mob lynching. He has posted on his Twitter handle “Rupesh Pandey’s mob lynching is a conspiracy executed. I met his family members and shared the grief. No BJP worker will be at peace until justice is done to Rupesh. Hemant government must understand that the Hindu community of the state is not weak. We will not be afraid at any cost.”

Pandey family denies the theory of murder during Saraswati Visarjan

In the video tweeted by Raghubar Das, he is seen listening to the Pandey family members. They are heard denying the theory of murder during the Saraswati Visarjan procession as peddled in the media. Instead, in this video, they are saying “He was called there by a phone call. A Mohammedan boy called him on phone. He took Rupesh forcefully on a motorcycle. The things are being said that Rupesh was killed during the Saraswati Visarjan procession. All of this is a lie. It is false news. Rupesh was working on a mobile shop.” Some mobile shop owner called Uday was also mentioned there.

As per a report by the Punjab Kesari, Manoj Ratan Chauthe, SP Hazaribagh, has also denied the connection between the murder and Saraswati Visarjan procession.

SP ignored the phone while the station in-charge denied talking

It must be noted that earlier reports published by OpIndia about this issue were based on media reporting. In these reports, it is said that the murder took place due to a ruckus that emerged during the Saraswati Visarjan procession. To confirm the claims made by the family of the deceased boy, OpIndia called Manoj Ratan Chauthe, SP Hazaribagh. He did not receive the phone call. The station in charge of the Barhi police station was also called. He denied speaking anything on this issue until the investigations are over.

Former CM Raghubar Das

In a brief talk with the media, the former CM of the state and BJP leader Raghubar Das said, “People are enraged due to this incident. The 16-year old only child of the family was mob lynched and killed by a few people of the specific community. Ever since the Jharkhand state had a coalition government of JMM, RJD, and the Congress party, run by Hemant Soren, the Jihadi and antinational forces are becoming stronger every day. This is the 10th mob lynching incident in the last 26 months.”

Raghubar Das further said, “We demand government everyday trial in a fast track court and earliest punishments to the culprits in this case. This is the duty of the government. The boy was learning and he was working as well. Therefore his family must be helped by giving them Rs. 50 lakhs and providing a government job to one of the family members. The accused have filed a case against other villagers as well. This should be investigated and the case must be taken back. The culprits must be punished as soon as possible to avoid more such incidents in the future. And all this is happening after the government has made a law against mob lynching. No one in the state fears or respects the law and order of the state. At 5 PM in the evening, we along with our delegation of BJP will go and meet the Governor of the state. We will inform him of the situation.”

Raghubar Das said, “The mother of the deceased boy has told me that the procession had already passed ahead. The boy was in the mobile store. He was called from the shop and then was mob lynched.”

Raghubar Das with the victim’s family

 Raghubar Das was accompanied by the local and state-level workers of BJP and all the Hindu organizations. The BJP leader Suman Sourabh who was present there has informed that amidst the heavy police force deployed on the spot, the former CM Raghubar Das reached the village of the deceased Rupesh Pandey at around 12:45 PM.

Locals informing Raghubar Das about the incident

Suman Sourabh talked to the media about Rupesh Pandey

Suman Sourabh is the state coordinator of the Jharkhand State Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha IT cell. While talking to OpIndia, he said, “I was with Raghubar Das throughout his visit to the village of the deceased boy Rupesh Pandey. I also happen to be a relative of Rupesh Pandey. I was the first one to raise this issue. Rupesh Pandey belonged to the village Nai Taand. 5 people have been arrested in this case so far. The family of the deceased boy has made a few demands to the government and administration which include arresting the other 21 culprits, conducting the trials of this case in a fast track court, capital punishment to all the culprits within one year, a compensation of minimum Rs 50 lakhs to the family and raising a statue of Rupesh in the adjoining village Kariyatpur.”

Suman Sourabh further said, “Raghubar Das has declared a help of Rs 51 thousand to the family. Hemant Soren has not given any statement about this matter so far.” According to Suman Sourabh, no minister and not even any MLA of the Jharkhand government has not given any statement about this issue so far.

‘The Muslim boy took my son away’

The distraught mother of Rupesh Pandey said, “My son used to work in the shop. He used to leave the home at around 9 AM. That day he came back at 2 PM for lunch. He went back to the shop at around 3:30 PM. At around 5:30 PM we were informed that our son is lying unconscious there. The Muslim boy took him away. They killed him there. Pappu Miyaan has murdered him. The police have been unable to investigate so far.”

Other women present in the mob also bolstered the claim. They said, “Pappu sat on Rupesh’s chest. Now he is accusing us back. He set his locality on fire. He himself burnt the vehicle too. Broke the house on his own. No one came to the house and bothered to ask what happened to your son. He must be hanged. Nothing happened till now. Now we will block the roads so that the government knows what is happening here.”

In a video, the devastated mother, who lost her young son to a bloodthirsty Islamist mob, for no fault of his own, is heard saying: “I don’t want anything else, simply return my son to me. They have taken away the apple of our eye. We cannot bear the loss, we are going crazy. So far, no concrete action has been taken by the police. I’m alone. My son was my only hope. I do not keep well. Somehow we were making ends meet”.

Rupesh’s mother recalled receiving a call from a doctor on the day of the incident, informing her that her son was lying unconscious. When she arrived, the cops refused to let her see Rupesh, she claimed.

Remembering her minor son, Rupesh’s mother said brusquely: “Either hang the culprits or give them to me. I will kill them. Just like they tortured and brutally hacked my son to death, I would kill them too.” 

Another family member stated that the police were bribed, which is why no action was taken in the matter. She said that if Rupesh’s killers are not arrested and awarded a death sentence in the next 24 hours, all the women would take to the streets to protest. “Look for them and present them before us. A family member of the culprit’s family should also be executed, just like my son was”, lamented another lady from Rupesh’s family.

Union Minister questions Hemant Soren Government

Annapurna Devi, Minister of Education (States) in the Union Government has written on her Twitter handle “The silence by the Jharkhand government and the idle police administration is adding worse pains to the wounds of these people. The public boiling with outrage. We will not be silent spectators anymore. Jharkhand government must initiate the procedures to give strict punishments to the inhuman killers of the innocent boy Rupesh.”

Former CM Babulal Marandi slams the bad law and order situation in the state

Former CM of Jharkhand, Babulal Marandi has written on his Twitter handle, “The brutal lynching of a young boy in Barhi’s Lakhna Dulmunha last night is a vivid picture of Jharkhand’s deteriorating law and order situation. The deceased Rupesh was the only earning son of his family. After the incident, there is news of unilateral action by the administration and internet shutdown in 4 districts including Hazaribagh. Now imagine how capable the helpless administration and incompetent government are of providing security to the people? Identifying all the culprits, the government must impose on them the Mob Lynching Act and take strict action. The government should give compensation of at least Rs 1 crore to Rupesh’s family members.”

The lynching of Rupesh Pandey discussed in the Parliament

Sanjay Seth, a BJP MP from Ranchi, broached the subject in parliament, describing the heinous murder of the minor youth as a case of mob lynching.

“Incidents of mob lynching are increasing continually in Jharkhand,” he stated in Parliament. “The entire state is filled with a sense of doom and gloom. Intellectuals who protest and burn candles are deafeningly quiet. Rupesh Pandey, a victim of mob lynching, deserves to be compensated. As a result, the matter should be investigated by the CBI,” the BJP MP added.

Demanding justice for Rupesh Kumar Pandey in the Jharkhand Assembly, BJP MP Sunil Kumar Singh said:

MP Sunil Singh further said: “The hooliganism was fostered in such a way that internet services had to be snapped in Hazaribagh and adjoining areas of Giridih, Chatra, and Ramgarh, only to be restored yesterday. Through this platform, I’d like to ask the Home Ministry whether those who constitute the majority of the country have the freedom to practice their religion or not. Because the manner the horrible executions in Jharkhand are carried out is based on communalism. Speaker Sir, I’m also stating this because people with such a dual character, who are seeking for votes by wearing a janeu and visiting various temples in Uttar Pradesh and travelling to the banks of the Ganges, are putting on a cruel front by sitting in power in Jharkhand. This must come to an end.”

In Giridih, Jharkhand, a procession was also held to seek justice for Rupesh Kumar Pandey. ‘Hemant Soren Gaddi Chhod’ (Hemant Soren step down) slogans were raised throughout the procession. There was also a demand that the killers be hanged.

People have warned that if strict action is not taken against the culprits, the protests will be more aggressive.

Social media users have also been demanding justice for the deceased minor by trending hashtag #JusticeForRupeshPanday.

A crime report has been registered against 27 accused Muslims and 100 other unknowns and several leaders have come in the front to support the family of the boy. On 10th February 2022, various cities and towns in Jharkhand witnessed the outrage of the Hindu community over this incident of lynching by Islamists.

References:

opindia.com