2 Delhi govt staffers among 4 held for Ballabhgarh killing

BALLABHGARH: Six days after the brutal killing of a 16-year-old Muslim boy by a mob inside a train in Ballabhgarh that triggered widespread outrage, the Haryana police have arrested four men for the crime.
The accused include two Delhi government employees - a 31-year-old health department inspector and a 50-year-old Delhi Jal Board official. Police sources said the two government employees had hurled communal abuses and instigated people against the victim, Junaid Khan, and his three brothers.The outburst had led to a scuffle and the teenager's fatal stabbing. All four accused were arrested from Khambi village near Palwal.
“The case stands solved and we are taking measures to ensure that the other accused are arrested at the earliest,“ Haryana DGP B S Sandhu said while announcing the arrests on Wednesday .
Police said the man who had stabbed the teenager is yet to be arrested though he has been identified from CCTV footage recovered from Asaoti railway station on Monday . The other two arrested are youths in their 20s working in a private company in south Delhi.
Ironically, Junaid had offered his seat to one of the accused -the DJB staffer -before the violence began. All four men have been booked for murder, attempt to murder, wrongful confinement and deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage religious feelings.
“We will not reveal the names of the accused at present since they would have to undergo a test identification parade before the family members of the deceased,“ said Kamaldeep Goel, superintendent of police, GRP, Ambala Cantt.
“We zeroed in on the four after an intensive manhunt with the support of technical investigation, intelligence reports and other inputs. The technical investigations established their presence at the spot. The accused have confessed to their involvement in the violence,“ Goel said.
During interrogation, the DJB staffer told cops that he and the other government employee had boarded the train from Okhla. The other two accused got on the train (number 64904) at Bata Chowk.They entered the fifth coach where Junaid and his brothers -Mohsin, Moeen and Haseem -were seated.
Since the train was fairly crowded, the 31-year-old food inspector walked up to the teenagers who were sitting and playing a board game, and asked them to make space for the duo to sit too.
Junaid offered the seat to the 50-year-old man, a gesture that somehow angered the inspector. He and the DJB staffer started hurling communal abuses at Junaid and his brothers. When they protested, a scuffle ensued.The accused said a youth who was standing behind them, suddenly jumped in and started thrashing Junaid. The two other accused also joined the fight.