The Uttar Pradesh Police on Wednesday arrested Saleem, the main accused in the murder case of 22-year-old Chandan Gupta, whose death on January 26 sparked communal clashes in Kasganj city.
“He [Saleem] is being interrogated and the teams are looking for more suspects involved in the murder,” Sanjeev Gupta, Inspector General (Aligarh), told Scroll.in.
Saleem is the eleventh person to be arrested in connection with the murder case. The Uttar Pradesh Police till now have lodged seven First Information Reports in cases related to the violence, and arrested 115 people.
The police, meanwhile, are examining two video clips that are purportedly about the events of January 26. The videos surfaced on social media early on Wednesday.
In the first video – shot at Tehsil Road near Bilram Gate, where the first incident of gunfire exchange occurred – a group of men believed to be associated with Hindutva groups can be seen waving saffron flags and the Indian tricolour. Two of them are seen carrying guns and the rest are armed with bats and clubs. The video, which does not show Gupta but was filmed around the time he was shot, shows the group firing their guns. The second video shows groups entering a Muslim locality and chanting slogans.
Sporadic instances of arson and rioting continued in the town two days after the clashes.
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