Kolkata: Thousands of people gathered at West Bengal village on December 8 evening for the funeral of a 50-year-old construction laborer who was hacked and burnt to death in Rajasthan.
The body of Mohammed Afrajul arrived in a wooden casket at Saiydpur, a village in Malda, around 6:30 pm by road from Rajasthan. Policemen were posted in the village, over 300 north of Kolkata, since the afternoon.
There was no trouble, only shock and horror at Afrajul’s death and a few demands for a CBI probe into the case and death by hanging of the man who murdered him. Shambhulal Regar, who also had the killing recorded on video, was arrested on December 7.
Afrajul was killed the previous day. His family has demanded that his killer be hanged, ndtv.com reported.
Mohammed Afrajul’s body was taken to the local mosque so people could pay homage and prayers could be said before his burial.
In Kolkata, protests took to the streets. A candle-light rally was taken out by Mamata Banerjee nephew and Trinamool MP Abhishek Banerjee from Hazra More to the Gandhi statue in the heart of the city to condemn the murder.
“The BJP government in the state and the Narendra Modi government at the centre cannot shrug off responsibility for what has happened. Those who have got this done are trying to destroy the secular fabric of the country. I appeal to people not to dance to the tune of communal elements and become communal animals,” said Banerjee.
In the video filmed by his nephew, Shambhulal Regar accused Afrajul of “love jihad.”
Earlier in the day, Mamata Banerjee had announced 300,000-rupee compensation to the family and a job for an eligible member. She also spoke on the phone to Afrajul’s wife, Gurfar Bibi.
The CPM too held protests across the city. CPM leader Sujan Chakraborty said, “There is no difference between the people who killed Mohammed Afrajul and ISIS. The brutality was unbelievable.”
Congress too held several protests in the city. The state Congress chief Adhir Chowdhury will go to Malda tomorrow to meet Afrajul’s family. So will half a dozen senior Trinamool leaders including Firhad Hakim, Suvendu Adhikari, Sougata Roy, Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar and others.