A trial court in West Bengal’s Murshidabad district on Monday convicted 13 persons for murdering a father and son during a violent protest against the Waqf Amendment Act in April, The Indian Express reported.
Harogobind Das, 72, and his 40-year-old son Chandan Das were killed by a mob on April 11 in the district’s Samserganj area.
According to the police, the violence that led to the killings broke out after rumours that security personnel had fired near a mosque, following which arson and attacks were reported in the area, The Times of India reported.
Jangipur Sub-Divisional Court judge Amitabh Mukhopadhyay convicted the persons accused in the case under Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita sections pertaining to murder, robbery, trespassing, rioting with deadly weapon, causing hurt and wrongful restraint, the newspaper quoted special public prosecutor Bivas Chatterjee as saying.
Violence had broken out in Murshidabad on April 11 and 12 during protests against the Waqf Amendment Act passed by Parliament on April 4. Three persons, including Chandan Das and Hargobind Das, were killed in the violence.
The third fatality was that of a man named Ijaz Momin, who was allegedly shot dead by the police in the Suti town in Murshidabad.
The widow of Harogobindo Das alleged in a first information report that a mob had dragged her husband and son out of their home and murdered them. “Though there were many people, the murder was committed by few people,” she alleged.
A 25-member Special Investigation Team had filed a 983-page chargesheet after six months of the killings.
The SIT conducted raids in West Bengal, Odisha and Jharkhand to arrest the accused.
The victims’ family had sought the maximum punishment and had also approached the Calcutta High Court seeking a Central Bureau of Investigation probe, which is still under consideration.
The rioting in Murshidabad led hundreds of Hindus, who are a minority in the district, to flee to neighbouring Malda.
The Waqf Amendment Act curbs the authority of waqf boards and allows greater government control over them. Critics allege that the amended law violates the right to equality and the freedom to manage religious affairs.
A waqf is an endowment under Islamic law dedicated to a religious, educational or charitable cause. Each state has a waqf board led by a legal entity vested with the power to acquire, hold and transfer property.
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