Junaid Khan lynching: Punjab and Haryana HC says dispute was over seat sharing, rules out communal angle

The Punjab and Haryana High Court has ruled out the communal angle in connection with the Junaid Khan lynching case.

The court made the observation in an order granting bail to one of the accused saying the initial dispute was 'only regarding the seat sharing and abuses in the name of castes and nothing more'. The observation was made in the order passed on March 28, granting bail to Rameshwar Dass, reported Indian Express.

“There is neither any evidence of any preplanning to cause incident deliberately or intentionally or to create disharmony,” reads the order which has now been made public. Last year, the trial court had dismissed Dass’ bail. However, the Justice Chaudhari said, “I do not think, the distinction drawn by trial  court is apt." The Additional District and Sessions Judge who was hearing the case had also said that a senior government lawyer was helping accused and sought an action.

YS Rathore, in an interim order on October 25 said that Additional Advocate General Naveen Kaushik was assisting the counsel of the main accused, Naresh Kumar, in cross-examination of prosecution witnesses

On June 22, 2016,  Junaid was lynched and stabbed to death on a Mathura-bound train after an argument broke out, while his brothers, Hashim and Sakir, were injured by a mob which also allegedly hurled communal slurs against them. His brothers had claimed the attackers had taunted and repeatedly called them 'anti-nationals' and 'beef eaters'. They were going back from Delhi after doing Eid shopping.

The accused, Naresh Kumar had 'confessed' to having stabbed the victim but insisted that the murder was not related to the beef issue. Naresh Kumar, a resident of Palwal in Haryana, was working as a security guard in a Delhi firm.