Four more arrests in Ballabhgarh train stabbing

Chandigarh, June 28

Four persons, including a 50- year-old man, were arrested on Wednesday in connection with the stabbing of a Muslim youth onboard a Mathura-bound train, an incident that had led to nationwide outrage.

With the fresh arrests, the total number of accused persons held in the case has risen to five, the police said even though the man who had stabbed 17-year-old Junaid is still at large.

"We have arrested four more persons, including three youths, who are aged between 24-30 years and one 50-year-old man," Kamaldeep Goel, the Superintendent of Police (SP), Government Railway Police (GRP), Faridabad, said over the phone.

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The sequence of events that led to the killing of the 17-year-old has also become clear to a large extent, he said.

According to Goel, it was the 50-year-old man arrested on Wednesday who had entered into an altercation with Junaid and his brothers over seat sharing.

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"Our investigations show that this man entered into an argument with the victim and his brothers from Okhla over seat sharing. He passed some remarks hurting the victims' religious sentiments. However the quarrel escalated after three youth, who had boarded the train at New Town Faridabad, also entered the fight," the SP said.

He said that the prime suspect in the case was still on the loose but police had "got crucial leads and he too will be in custody soon".

Junaid was stabbed to death while his brothers — Hashim and Sakir — were injured by a mob that allegedly hurled slurs against them onboard the Delhi-Mathura passenger train between Ballabgarh and Mathura stations last Thursday night.

Junaid's body was dumped near Asaoti village in Faridabad district.

The killing was widely condemned. On Monday, Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar had condemned the incident and appealed to the people to maintain peace.

Union Information and Broadcasting minister M Venkaiah Naidu said on Wednesday that any incident of such nature is condemnable and brutal.

The police had announced a reward of Rs 1 lakh for credible information leading to arrest of the suspects.

A suspect was arrested earlier this week and remanded in judicial custody by a court in Faridabad district. He had claimed he was drunk and was egged on to attack the victims by fellow passengers. PTI