Tabrez lynching : Union Minister says its “unfortunate”, accused be punished.
PATNA: A document signed by five heads of department of a medical college in Jamshedpur confirms that 24-year-old Tabrez Ansari — who was attacked by a mob in Jharkhand — died of a cardiac arrest that was possibly triggered by his severe injuries, including a fracture of the skull. The five signatories are members of a special investigation team set up to examine the reasons behind Tabrez Ansari’s death.
Incidents such as what happened in Seraikela-Kharsawa district in Jharkhand on June 17 where Tabrez Ansari, 25, was tied to a pole, thrashed by a mob that forced him to chant “Jai Shri Ram” and “Jai Hanuman” and was emboldened enough to circulate a video of this obscene disregard for the law, militate against the very idea of the goal of prosperity and happiness.
Two days after the Jharkhand Police dropped the murder charge against 11 accused in the Tabrez Ansari mob lynching case, Minister of State (MoS) for Home G Kishan Reddy termed the development as “unfortunate” and demanded that the accused be punished. “I want those who are behind the criminal activity [Tabrez Ansari murder] should be punished. We will speak to the state government,” G Kishan Reddy said.
Responding to a question on an alleged “increase in the lynching cases in the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) regime”, the minister said, “All the governments [Central and state] should stop lynchings. This is happening not only in the BJP-ruled states. This has happened even in West Bengal.”
Jharkhand is home to 40 per cent of India’s mineral wealth and constitutes an ideal location for power and cement plans, auto components et al and has housed among the largest steel plants and commercial manufacturing units by Tata Motors.
The youth was attacked by a mob on 17 June in the Seraikela Kharswan district of Jharkhand on the suspicion that he was a thief. Videos from the spot showed he was thrashed and forced to chant “Jai Shri Ram”.
The police rescued him early on the morning of 18 June and took him to hospital. The doctor there took an X-Ray of his legs because he complained of pain there. But the fracture in his skull went unnoticed till the postmortem examination.The doctors at the hospital say Tabrez did not complain of any pain in the head. In fact, he walked out of the hospital into the police van and was driven to jail.
The postmortem report mentioned cardiac arrest as the cause of death and on its basis, the charge of murder against 11 men arrested for the attack was stepped down to culpable homicide not amounting to murder. But the clarification by the doctors expands on the cause of death and puts a question mark on the postmortem report and the subsequent police action, which have been widely criticised.
“The fracture of bone is grievous injury caused by hard and blunt object. The combined effect of fracture of bone, pale organs and heart chambers full of blood resulting into cardiac arrest,” says the document signed by the five doctors.
Confirming that Tabrez Ansari had died of cardiac arrest, Dr B Mardi, who was part of the team that conducted the autopsy, told to a TV Channel “The cardiac arrest could be due to stress, which can be triggered by several reasons, injury being one of them”.
The fracture could have triggered the heart attack and caused his death, said Dr J Amalorpavananthan, a reputed vascular surgeon from Chennai. “It takes enormous force to fracture the skull of a young man,” he told He was also of the opinion that such an injury can “herniate” and put pressure on the parts of the brain that controls the heart and lungs. It can cause a heart attack, Dr Amalorpavanantham said.
Asked about the skull fracture being found only during the postmortem examination, Dr Mardi said it was a hairline fracture, “I feel that he did not complain about any pain at that time, it is also possible that our doctors overlooked it,” he said.
Asked about the skull fracture being found only during the postmortem examination, Dr Mardi said it was a hairline fracture, “I feel that he did not complain about any pain at that time, it is also possible that our doctors overlooked it,” he said.
The postmortem report was questioned on social media as the police did not give any reference to the reason that could have led to cardiac arrest in a 24-year-old man. The police said the medical report “did not give any supporting evidence for murder”.
“It’s not my report alone. It was done with a team of doctors,” Dr Mardi told . Karthik S, a senior police officer in Jharkhand, told NDTV that two separate postmortem reports found the same thing – Tabrez Ansari died of a cardiac arrest. “Once we got the medical report, we asked for second opinion from higher level of experts. They also gave same sort of opinion,” the officer said.
Asked about complaints by Tabrez Ansari’s family that his head had been bashed in, the officer said they could only go by the medical reports. “The experts have given their opinion that he died of a (cardiac) arrest because stress – mental or physical ailment,” he said.(With Agency Inputs ).
