THE Bhiwandi police on Saturday arrested 13 members of Raza Academy for their alleged role in Wednesday’s incidents of violence over the construction of a police station and subsequent lynching of two policemen. Two persons had died in police firing earlier that day.
All 13 have been booked for murder, criminal conspiracy, rioting, arson, assaulting a government servant on duty, illegal assembly and destruction of government property under provisions of the Indian Penal Code. They are residents of Bhiwandi and were arrested in a night-long operation, police officials said.
They were later produced before a magistrate who has remanded them in police custody for five days.
According to the police, the arrests were made after identities of those involved in the killing of the two constables were established through eyewitness accounts and verified by one of the key accused.
‘‘We arrested one of the key members of the riotous mob involved in the violence and killing on Friday late evening. During his preliminary questioning, he revealed certain names which tallied with the names that we had got from eye-witnesses to the incident,’’ said a senior police official. ‘‘More persons could be arrested as we question these accused and investigate further how the riots and the killings were engineered and who all were involved. Obviously, it’s not the handiwork of just 13 persons, they have the support of some powerful persons,’’ he added.
Police records reveal that in just one day of violence and attacks on police teams, a total of 35 policemen were severely injured, two were killed and at least eight Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation buses were set on fire.
Those arrested have been identified as Shakeel alias Rizwan, Ifteqar Jubair Ahmed Qureshi, Nadeem Akhtar Ansari, Mohammad Hatif Shakil Khan, Azmal Vinsu, Shafi Azmal Vinsu, Gafar Ali Sheikh, Amjad Haji Ansari, Fakre alias Alam Ahmed Istehad Mallik, Hatif Ahmed Abdul Rahim Ansari, Mohammad Kasim Salim Ansari, Mohammad Hasim Mohammad Salim and Sohel Abdul Rashid Ansari.