2 cattle traders shot over 50k dues

On Feb 25, 2016

Ghaziabad: Two cousins involved in cattle trade were found shot dead allegedly over a monetary dispute in Muradnagar on Tuesday. A dairy farm owner and his four accomplices were arrested on Wednesday for the murders. Additional police personnel have been deployed in the village and the situation is now under control. Muradnagar SHO Rajkumar Yadav has been sent to police lines with immediate effect.

The victims’ family said Waseem (25) and his cousin Nayeem (28) were partners and had been involved in the procurement and sale of milch cows. They said there was an ongoing dispute between the main accused, Vijay, and the two cousins over dues of around Rs 50,000. “At 4pm on Tuesday, Vijay called Waseem on his mobile phone and asked him to come over to his farm to collect the dues. Nayeem also accompanied him to the farm. However, they did not return till late night. Their mobile phones were switched off. We were later informed by police that they had been shot dead,” said Waseem’s younger brother Javed.

Javed said police told the family that the cousins had got into a fight with Vijay at the farm, which led to a scuffle. Four accomplices of Vijay came from behind and allegedly attacked them and they were shot afterwards. Police said Waseem had sustained three gunshot wounds while Nayeem had been shot once.

As news of the murder spread in the village, police said there were some attempts to create disturbance and give the murder a communal colour as the victims and the suspects are from different communities. Senior officials of the Ghaziabad police and the district administration rushed to the spot and security has been tightened in the village with the deployment of additional police personnel.

Ghaziabad SSP Dharmendra Singh and district magistrate Vimal Kumar Sharma camped in Muradnagar on Wednesday to ensure there was no breakdown in law and order. “Prima facie, it appears the murders were committed over a financial dispute. Five persons, including the main accused, have been arrested. There was an attempt by certain elements to disturb law and order situation, but the situation was brought under control with the help of senior members of the communities in Muradnagar,” he said.

An FIR was lodged at the Muradnagar police station under IPC sections 302 (murder), 147 (rioting) and 34 (act done with common intention). The bodies have been sent for autopsy, but the report is still awaited. The other four arrested are Ashu (25), Deepak (26), Billu (23) and Amit (26). Mobile phone of Vijay and the country-made gun used for the murder have been recovered.

The district administration said a relief of Rs 5 lakh each will be provided to the families of the cousins. “The situation has been brought completely under control. The CM’s office has approved Rs 5 lakh each for families of the deceased. This will be paid to their kin very soon,” the DM said.

2 cattle traders shot over 50k dues