'Who Killed My Abba?': Aurangabad Riots & Unanswered Questions on Police Failure

Over a year since Aurangabad riots, claims of police's alleged inefficiency but those affected still have questions.

"Whatever festivals are celebrated inside this temple, everybody comes together to celebrate them, whether they are Muslims or Hindus or of any caste. So many of us have grown up together here. On Ram Navami, there are Muslims who help distributing prasad and water to the devotees, they help with the rallies too," said Prashant Dalve (24), one of the caretakers of the Ram Mandir in the Kiradpura locality of Sambhaji Nagar (formerly Aurangabad).

Every year, several locals of Kiradpura, a locality with about 95% Muslim population, help with Ram Navami festivities at the temple, scenes which were observed this year on 17 April too.

Hence, Dalve is still perplexed how exactly a year ago, riots erupted on the street right outside the temple on 30 March 2023, a night before Ram Navami.

Dalve, along with Aurangabad MP Imtiaz Jaleel, was locked inside the temple premises all night while while mobs ran amok on the streets outside, pelted stones, and torched police vehicles.

For most locals, the visuals and memories of Jaleel who stayed inside the temple to ensure it does not come under attack are still fresh.

For others, including the family of the sole victim who was not only killed in alleged police firing but was also named as an accused in the FIR, one question still remains unanswered — Who was responsible?

'Temple is Unharmed': A Flashback of the Night

The 40-year-old temple has police chowki inside the premises along with homes of a few Hindu families that have been living there for years. There is also a India Post office in the premises. Several shops bordering the temple premises have ben rented to Muslims. Locals say, many labourers who helped build the temple also belonged to the community.

On the night of 29 March, a scuffle broke out near the temple between three Hindu youth from another locality and Muslim locals of Kiradpura.

Both police and locals gave two different versions of the reasons behind the scuffle. While the locals claim that the youth had raised objectionable and provocative slogans, the police claims that it was the locals who had instigated and thrashed them.

Soon after, crowds swelled in the area and clashes erupted between the police and a mob on the streets right outside the temple. While the reasons behind the escalation are unclear, the police majorly blamed 'rumours on social media' behind it.

When the unrest peaked, Jaleel released two videos from inside the temple along with the temple workers and caretakers to clarify that the temple was unharmed.

"I am at the Ram temple in Kiradpur. I am here with volunteers of the temple and as you can see, the temple is unharmed. On Ram Navami, you can see that the temple of Lord Ram is unharmed. If there are any such rumours going around, please do not believe them," Jaleel could be heard saying in the video.

'Will Never Forget the Smoke of the Tear Gas'

Those inside the temple with Jaleel still remember the horrors.

Wajid Jagirdar (35) a local leader and son of the local councillor who was inside the temple premises with Jaleel said: "We did not know who the people outside are. When there was a power cut for two minutes, the situation was vey grave. At the same time, the police was firing tear gas shells. I can never forget the visions of that smoke. It was a scary sight to watch."

Jaleel used the microphone available with the policemen to appeal to rioters to maintain peace. Announcements were also being made from the loudspeakers on mosques in the vicinity, but to no avail, Jagirdar said.

Dalve, a student, has been visiting the temple premises since he was a child. His family runs a wholesale outlet of edible oils right outside the temple gate.

"We hid in the temple office on the upper floor. We could see fires outside, hear stones being pelted at cars.There was some police present inside the complex, but later MP Jaleel came and assured us of our safety. We stayed inside till morning. We were very scared. There were a few residents of the temple complex with us and all the volunteers who had come to decorate the complex for the festivities next morning," Dalve recalled.

'Who Killed Muniruddin?'

"One of our neighbours started yelling - 'Your abba has been shot!" We came running from our house and dragged him to the other side," said Mujahid (22), younger son of Muniruddin Sheikh, the sole victim of the violence who has also been named in the FIR.

Sheikh lived in the apartment building called Faiz Complex, exactly opposite to the temple. According to his family, Sheikh was standing inside a locked gate of the building that opens directly on the street when a bullet hit him.

Since his death, the family has been claiming that Sheikh was named in the FIR only after his death because the police wanted to avoid taking blame of a civilian's death.

"The police started firing after there was power cut. In that aimless firing, my brother who was standing inside the gate of his building right opposite to the temple, got shot in the dark. There were a few other neighbours also present with him. The gate was locked. All of this evidence is there on CCTV visuals," his brother Kalimuddin said.

"In a year, we have repeated this to close to 100 journalists of the country. I myself met the DGP in Mumbai and submitted the CCTV visuals to him. We tried to meet the home minister of the state back then but he was in Delhi. The fact that we broke the locks of the society to take him out, him being taken on the scooter to the hospital all of this is available on CCTV." Kalimuddin added.

Survived by two sons and a wife, Sheikh was the sole breadwinner of the family. Both his sons have now quit education to make ends meet. Mujahid now drives an e-rickshaw.

"Our house is on rent, there are financial issues now. My father was the one who was shot, and then also made an accused. The police never gave any details of how he might have been shot," Mujahid said.

"Nobody helped. The media came, took our quotes, and left," he said.

'The Police Fell Short But Claims of Victims Untrue'

A senior officer of Aurangabad Police, on condition of anonymity, told The Quint that the police was indeed ill-prepared to handle the situation.

"Yes, the police did fall short to an extent. It is the duty of the police to control a situation like that by all means possible. But you also have to look at it relatively. The mob had close to 1,000 people. The police controlled them as much as they could," they said.

Asked if any of the Hindu youth were held for the initial scuffle, they said: "There were three Hindu boys who were beaten by a bunch of Muslim men a while before the violence blew up. But there is no proof whether they were beaten because they raised objectionable slogans. The three boys have been questioned. It is established that they were not perpetrators but victims themselves."

"There was also a rumour that some other Hindu boys may be hiding inside the temple. WhatsApp messages and social media forwards, in order to establish any instigation were while the violence was on, were also probed," the police said.

The police also refuted claims that outsiders were involved in the riots and while the violence was underway, there were members of only one community present.

On claims of Muniruddin's family, the police said that they can "undeniably confirm he was not inside the building gate."

"Muniruddin was a part of the mob. He may have been there as a participant or he may have been there as a bystander. But he was definitely not inside the gate as the family is claiming. We have visual evidence from the SmartCity CCTV cameras to show that. After he got shot, he was dragged inside the gate of the building by the people. There were announcements being made telling people to stay indoors. Why was he there at all? Why was he not inside his house while a violent mob was running amok?" the police said.

Kiradpura Aims to Forget

In an interview with The Quint, Aurangabad MP Jaleel blamed the police and the government for the violence.

"While 13 police vehicles were being torched, where was the police? If I am wrong, the police should show CCTV visuals of that night and prove me wrong. There was no police is what I can confirm. And these aren't just oral observations. I wrote a letter to our peace-loving prime minister and home minister Amit Shah that violence has taken place here and a sitting High Court judge must be appointed to conduct an enquiry. I got no response. I wrote to the chief minister and home minister of Maharashtra too," Jaleel said.

"Triggering riots in Aurangabad, the Ram Mandir getting attacked, and then triggering violence in the whole country - this was their script," Jaleel alleged.

Most in Kiradpura have moved on from the events of that night. Close to 70 people that were arrested have bow been released on bail.

Dalve said that even though it was a night none of them had ever imagined before, people started to forget differences the next day on Ram Navami.

"None of us living here have changed our attitude towards each other, be Hindus or Muslims. We live together in harmony. Kiradpura was peaceful before and it is peaceful today. It was just that one day, on which nobody knows how all of that happened," Dalve said.