New Lead in Ballabhgarh Lynching: Knife Used to Stab Junaid Found

SP Goyal said that the t-shirt worn by the prime accused at the time of the killing was yet to be found.

Junaid was stabbed to death and his brothers were injured by a mob that allegedly hurled communal slurs against them onboard the Delhi-Mathura passenger train.

(Photo: Rhythum Seth/The Quint) 

The weapon used to stab Hafiz Junaid to death on a train in June has been found, according to a report by PTI. The Haryana Railway Police said that they had found the knife used in the Ballabhgarh lynching in a pond in Jatola village, as per the PTI report. Moreover, the shoes and a gamccha worn by Naresh Kumar, the prime accused, have been recovered from his house in Palwal, the police told PTI.

Haryana Government Railway Police SP Kamaldeep Goyal was quoted by PTI as saying:

We have recovered the knife used in the stabbing.

Also Read: Exclusive: Why Did Sakir Board Junaid’s Train at Ballabhgarh?

The police nabbed a 32-year-old man from Maharashtra’s Dhule district on 8 July. Police claim the man arrested had admitted to stabbing 17-year-old Junaid in a Mathura-bound train on 22 June.

Junaid was stabbed to death on board the train when he and his brothers were returning home to Khandawli village after shopping for Eid in Delhi. His body was dumped close to Asaoti village in Faridabad district.

Also Read: Junaid’s Family Demands Death Sentence for Arrested Prime Accused

The prime accused in his killing onboard a Mathura-bound train near Ballabhgarh was sent to a two-day police remand by a Faridabad court on 9 July. Police had earlier claimed that the prime accused had confessed to his crime.

During the probe, the accused told police that he had bought the knife from Delhi on the same day as Junaid’s lynching, as per a PTI report. After the crime, he put it in a bag and dumped it in a pond in Jatola village, police said. The accused works as a security guard in a Delhi firm.

SP Goyal said that his team was yet to find the t-shirt worn by the prime accused at the time of the killing, and that he would be taken to Maharashtra to locate it.

Also Read: In Hindu Village of Junaid’s Attackers, Muslims Spurned as ‘Other’

The police also said that the items recovered including the knife would be sent to a forensic laboratory in Gurugram’s Bhondsi for examination, according to the PTI report. Goyal said that the accused was sent to police custody for five days on 11 July.

A reward of Rs 2 lakh had been announced for information on identity of those involved in the killing.

Also Read: Ballabhgarh Lynching: Hang Junaid’s Killer, Says His Family

(With inputs from PTI)

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