The atmosphere in Aligarh remained tense on account of the killing of a Bhartiya Janata Party legislator's son. Communal violence in Aligarh has already claimed 6 lives.
However extremely tight security arrangements prevented recurrence of violence.
Triloki alias Vicky, the 24-year-old son of BJP MLA Deoki Nandan Kori was shot at by unknown miscreants on Saturday afternoon in the curfew-bound Sasni Gate locality.
Even after his death later in the evening, he remained unidentified, following which his body was sent to post-mortem on Sunday. While doctors certified the body as that of a Muslim, he was buried at a local graveyard.
However, what sparked off a lot of hue and cry was a news report in a local newspaper on Monday showing a Hindu 'Aum' tattoo on the young man's right shoulder.
The disclosure of his being the MLA's son was also made only after the publication of the report, following which the body was exhumed and handed over to the family .
Triloki's father is now accusing the police of the killing. "He has been killed by a police bullet," the MLA from Mahamaya Nagar (Hathras) constituency in Aligarh district told this scribe .
However, while vehemently refuting the charge, local police as well as the state administration have raised several questions, largely to absolve themselves of the responsibility for the man's death.
"Isn't it strange that the BJP MLA or any of his family members did not care to make inquiries about the boy's whereabouts even though they now claim, he was missing since Saturday noon?" asked State Principal Home Secretary Satish Kumar Agarwal.
Agarwal told reporters in Lucknow, "Considering that the boy used to reside more than 2 km away from the place where he received the bullet injury, it was worth probing what he was doing in a curfew-bound locality."
He further sought to point out, "The boy was taken for a Muslim because of his circumcision that was certified by a panel of two doctors who carried out the post-mortem," even as he admitted, "yes, he had an 'Aum' tattoo as well on his shoulder."
State Director General of Police Bua Singh argued, "We did everything possible and necessary for the identification of the body that was kept in the government mortuary for a full day."
He went on to add, "Some people came for the identification, but failed to recognize him; and since decomposition was setting in quite rapidly, we could not hold it longer and sent it for burial."
Using the "burial" as a handle to give the administration a jerk, BJP was up in arms against the police action.
"This is cold-blooded murder and we are not going to take this lying down," UP BJP chief Keshrinath Tripathi told this scribe over telephone from Allahabad.
"The administration is working for the appeasement of Muslims and with Rizwan Ahmed, the zonal inspector general of police, being entrusted with the charge of the riot-hit town, things have worsened," he added.
While accusing the police of deliberately carrying out his burial, the state BJP president went to the extent of alleging, "I would not be surprised if the administration got him circumcised during the post-mortem." He therefore demanded "removal of Rizwan Ahmad from the scene, together with a CBI probe into the incident".
That was enough to give government sleepless nights once again.
"We would have allowed some relaxation in the curfew today, but in view of this development, our hands are tied and we are constrained to continue with the curfew for at least another 24 hours," said Agarwal.
