Named the second accused in the Buduan double murder case, the brother of the barber, who allegedly killed the boys, can be seen in a now-viral video.
Two days after the gruesome murder of two minor brothers in Uttar Pradesh’s Budaun district, the police on Thursday arrested the second accused who had been allegedly absconding after the crime.
Sajid, a local barber, allegedly killed the brothers Ayush Pratap, 13, and Aahan Pratap, 6, at their home in Badaun on Tuesday night, triggering tension in the area. According to UP Director General of Police (DGP) Prashant Kumar, Sajid was shot dead two hours after the murders when he opened fire on the police team that was pursuing him.
Officers said Javed, the brother of accused Sajid, surrendered before the Bareilly police late on Wednesday after a reward of Rs. 25,000 was declared on him. “Under police pressure, he surrendered at the Satellite Chowki of Baradari police station in Bareilly. He has also made one of his videos viral. Our team is bringing him to the police station and facts will be ascertained by taking further legal action,” said Alok Priyadarshi, SSP, Budaun.
Priyadarshi added five teams were formed to arrest Javed, who is around 25 years old.
The officer said the cause of the brothers’ death was shock and haemorrhage due to anti-mortem injuries. “According to the postmortem report, 14 wounds caused by sharp weapons have been found on Ayush’s body, which matches with the sharp weapon we have recovered. There are two wounds on Ahaan, one of which is an injury on the neck,” said the SSP.
“As far as the motive is concerned, an investigation is underway as per the complaint filed by the victims’ family. We are looking into all the possible angles, including if it was a case of black magic or not. Attackers and the victim’s family were known to each other,” said Priyadarshi.
Meanwhile, Dr Rakesh Singh, IG, Bareilly range, said the accused is in the custody of Budaun police now. “He is being interrogated. I know that a video has gone viral over social media and facts will become clear after the detailed investigation only,” said Singh.
In the now-viral video, Javed can be heard claiming innocence before unidentified men and saying it was his brother who was involved in the crime. “I fled to Delhi and have come back to Bareilly to surrender. I was not involved in the incident, I was not there during the incident. We have a very good relationship with the victims’ family. I am unable to understand what actually went wrong,” says Javed as he shows his Aadhaar card in the video.
Vinod Kumar, the father of the murdered boys, said more people were involved in the crime. “Two people cannot do this alone. I am sure that some other person or organisation is involved in this. I am satisfied that the police are taking prompt action. But why did they do this has been troubling me,” said Kumar after the arrest of Javed.
The boys’ family has alleged Javed was standing outside their house on a motorcycle and fled the spot, a charge denied by the accused’s relatives. Piyush, 8, the second son of Kumar, a contractor, sustained minor injuries in the alleged attack by Sajid, but managed to escape and alert his family.
