Hapur lynching: SC asks victim’s brothers to place statement before trial court

New Delhi, May 28 (IANS) The Supreme Court on Tuesday asked the brothers of a man who was lynched in Hapur in Uttar Pradesh to place their statements before the trial court for its consideration.

But it refused to direct the Uttar Pradesh Police to conduct any further probe in the matter.

Survivor Samiuddin moved the apex court seeking a direction to the Uttar Pradesh Police to file a supplementary chargesheet in the case.

He submitted before the court that the investigation did not appear satisfactory and was apparently not going in the right direction.

Samiuddin sought further investigation with respect to the statements made by Saleem and Nadeem, two brothers of the victim recorded under Section 164 of the CrPC before Chief Judicial Magistrate of Hapur.

The court refused to issue any direction to the lower court regarding the filing of a supplementary chargesheet but permitted the survivor to move the trial court, which will take a decision in accordance with law.

In June last year, 38-year-old Qasim, a cattle trader, was lynched and 65-year-old Samiuddin was severely injured in Uttar Pradesh's Hapur district after a group of people attacked them on the suspicion of being involved in cow slaughter.

In September last year, the top court had said that the investigation should be supervised by Meerut's Inspector General of Police.

On May 2, the Uttar Pradesh Police filed a status report on the investigation carried out in the matter on a petition filed by Samiuddin who sought a Special Investigation Team (SIT) for an "impartial" investigation.