After 16-year-old Junaid was murdered on a local train near Ballabgarh on June 22, it triggered a nationwide outrage against lynching. According to the police, Naresh, who is in his thirties, has confessed that the knife with which Junaid was stabbed was in his hand. However, the murder weapon has still not been recovered.
Junaid and his brother Haseem were lynched on a train after which Junaid succumbed to his injuries while no one helped him reach a hospital. Haseem said that his skull cap was flung, his beard pulled, while the crowd hurled abuses at them.
However, Naresh told the police that he was from Faridabad and took the local train in which the crime took place on a daily basis. He had boarded the local on that day from Shivaji Bridge Station and had an argument with Junaid and his brothers Haseem and Shakil over the seats. Notably, Haseem said that even after the matter was resolved, Naresh along with a few other followed them to another compartment passing racial comments and called them ‘anti-national’ and ‘beef-eater’
The police had earlier arrested several people in connection with the murder. However, it was Haseem who helped identify Naresh, after which cops prepared a sketch. Police said that they will now put him in a line-up before the eyewitnesses to confirm that he was at the crime scene. The police may also take a ride on the local train to construct a sequence of events.
