Bizman killing leaves West Delhi villages on edge

Even as people in this West Delhi neighborhood mourned the killing of a 'brave' father while confronting his daughter's alleged harassers, the incident was being given different tinges by politicians and activists who made a beeline in the 35,000 - strong village.

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Bizman killing leaves West Delhi villages on edge
(Photo: Mail Today)

In his life, he was known as his family's pillar of strength who would greet neighbours on Diwali and Eid. In his death, businessman Dhruv Tyagi (51) has not only left his family in tatters but also rendered the Moti Nagar Basai Darapur village, where he lived all his life, on edge.

Even as people in this West Delhi neighborhood mourned the killing of a 'brave' father while confronting his daughter's alleged harassers, the incident was being given different tinges by politicians and activists who made a beeline in the 35,000 - strong village.

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After initial attempts of communalising it on social media, perhaps, because of the different religions of the accused and the victim, politicians, on Wednesday, linked the murder to influx of 'illegal' Rohingya migrants and mob lynching.

Dhruv was stabbed, along with his 19-year-old son, Anmol on Sunday morning, after he confronted another man and his three sons, from the same village, over allegedly passing lewd comments at his 27-year-old daughter. Dhruv succumbed to his injuries on Monday. Four accused have been arrested and two minors detained, police said.

"In the past 35 years since we lived here, no incident of such gravity has ever taken place," said Riyaz Ahmad (32), a local property dealer who had tried to save the businessman and his son during the incident on Sunday.

"Whatever happened on that night was extremely shocking and no one would defend such a gruesome incident," he said

The families of the accused and the victims lived at 30-metre distance from each other in the same lane. The accused family lived on rent in a flat owned by the victim's relatives for the past five years. The family, locals said, had come from Bihar and settled in Delhi 15 years ago. The main accused is a dailywage labourer, his son is a rickshaw puller and his wife and daughter work as domestic maids.

Most of the houses in the lane, locals said, belonged to Tyagi community who have given their properties on rent to Muslims.

POLITICISATION

Union Minister Vijay Goel, JD(U) leader KC Tyagi and sacked AAP MLA Kapil Mishra, along with the family members of the deceased businessman, met Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Wednesday and appealed for the punishment to the accused. "One of the reasons behind the rise in crime in Delhi is that Rohingya Muslims from Bangladesh are coming in large numbers," Goel said while requesting Singh to provide a job to the kin of the victim. Goel's meeting with the Home Minister came hours after Shoba Gupta, the wife of BJP leader Vijendra Gupta visited the victim's family and termed the incident a case of predetermined mob lynching.

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"It was a clear case of mob lynching and every person of accused family should be booked under the charge of murder. The accused are tenant and neighbour of victim family but they did not respect the girl. They must be eyeing on her and that why they abused her," she said.

FAMILY UPSET

Amid the blamegame, the family of the victims was upset over attempts to give communal colour to the incident saying the accused could have been of an y community.

"It annoys me to see political parties and leaders making statements over the issue. It is a clear case of ruthless killing started with abusing a girl. The accused could have been from any religion. All we need is justice," said Tapeshwar Tyagi, Dhruv's brother. The victim's family and the local resident welfare association have demanded that police conduct criminal background checks of migrants.

The residents had earlier requested police and the office of Delhi's Lieutenant Governor, to ensure verification of migrants who come from other states and settle in the area.

"The issue of migrants settling here is a serious concern. We will hold a panchayat to decide the future course of action." said, Anand Tyagi, a relative of victim's family. "

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POLICE ARRANGEMENT

As many as 50 cops, in uniform and civvies have been posted in the area to prevent any untoward incident in the sensitive atmosphere. Monica Bhardwaj, DCP, West Delhi said,"We have arrested four persons including accused's mother and sister following statement of the victim. Shamsher Alam and his father Jahangir Alam was already arrested on Tuesday and we have also arrested Shamsher's mother and sister following statement of the victim on Wednesday. Besides, we have also apprehended Shamsher's two younger brothers involved in murder".