Exclusive: “Give Us One Hour, We Will Finish Muslims…” Said the Mob That Lynched 80-year-old Zainul Ansari in Bihar’s Sitamarhi

On October 20, a mob lynched 80-year-old Zainul Ansari during a Durga Puja procession in Sitamarhi, Bihar. The incident did not make national headlines till November 2, when videos and images of the brutal murder had gone viral on social media.

The lack of attention that the incident has received is best exemplified by the ruling political party’s response on the matter. When asked about the incident, Naval Kishore Sharma — a spokesperson of Janata Dal (United) headed by Nitish Kumar — told NewsCentral24x7, “I am in the market right now, this is holiday season. I am spending time with my family. Will be able to give a statement on the issue only after Diwali.”

NewsCentral24x7 went to Sitamarhi, Bihar, to gather details on the incident.

According to the FIR accessed by NewsCentral24x7, the incident took place in a neighbourhood, Muraliya Chak, near the Gaushala Chowk (a market place in Sitamarhi city). A man working at a sweet shop on Gaushala Chowk, told NewsCentral24x7 that On October 20, a riot took place in the area. He says that there was a mob of thousands that the police was unable to control. Visibly scared, he refuses to divulge any details.

The night before the murder

Approximately 400 metres from the Chowk is the Darul-ul-Ulema madrasa, considered the centre of the neighbourhood which is chiefly inhabited by Muslims. But almost no one at the madrasa wishes to talk.

An elderly man told NewsCentral24x7 on condition of anonymity, “19th October was the day of jumma, all of us were laying in bed after dinner when 1,500 people passed by with an idol of Durga. Because the loudspeaker’s volume was really high, we came out of our houses to watch. Most youths in the crowd were drunk, and when the procession passed through our neighbourhood, some Muslim youths also joined it. From 10 pm to 1.30 am, the procession was moving in our neighbourhood. We were not surprised at this, because the Madhuban durga puja idol (Madhuban is a locality approximately 2 kms from Gaushala Chowk) passes through this route every year for visarjan. Around 1.45 in the night, the procession had almost exited our neighbourhood. It was about to enter the Hindu neighbourhood when someone announced that a Muslim had hurled a stone at the durga idol due to which its hand had broken off. Upon hearing this, the mob started attacking the nearby houses of members of the minority community. Because everyone was sleeping with their houses locked, the mob vandalized the doors of about 30 people’s houses.”

He continued, “In our neighborhood, Hindus and Muslims live in harmony. Even now, many Hindus are running their grocery (kirana) shops here. We celebrate festivals together. But on that night, one rumour separated the two communities.”       

A local reporter present at the madrasa told NewsCentral24x7, “Around 150 policemen were posted with the procession yet the homes of Muslims were vandalised with lathis. When the issue escalated, the Superintendent of Police (Vikas Burman) was informed who reached the spot and placated the situation. The idol was submerged and things calmed down by the morning. Policemen were posted at the Gaushala Chowk.”

October 20, the day of the incident

A teacher at the madrasa said, “Most people in our neighbourhood sell fruits and vegetables on Gaushala Chowk. On October 20, suddenly some people from Madhuban called the shopkeepers and said that members of the majority community were attacking members of the minority community. After this, most Muslim shopkeepers in Gaushala Chowk closed their shops and returned home.”

Another elderly man present at the madrasa told NewsCentral24x7, “At around 10 in the morning, disobeying the administration’s orders, members of the Kali Puja Samiti’s members came towards Gaushala Chowk with an idol. They were headed to Hazipur to submerge goddess Kali’s idol.”

According to the locals and as per media reports, the administration had denied Kali Puja Samiti members the permission to take the procession through the largely Muslim inhabited Gaushala Chowk and Muraliya chak. However, in the morning, the crowd defied the police’s orders, and entered the neighbourhood of Muraliya Chak. Those in the procession then started shouting provocative slogans, to which a few Muslim youths objected. This escalated and both sides started hurling stones at each other. The police tried to control the situation but failed. SP Vikas Burman arrived at the spot but the  by then, the situation had worsened and a mob of around ten thousand people had gathered. When local police could not control the mob, additional policemen were called from the nearby districts. Then, the mob was pushed out of the neighbourhood.

A local reporter narrates, “When the crowd dispersed from Muraliya Chak and reached Gaushala Chowk, more than 15,000 people were a part of it. Shops owned by Muslims were being set on fire. Cars were being torched. At this time, all police officers in the district were present at the scene.”

According to SP Burman, the mob was much smaller — only 2,000 people. However, speaking to NewsCentral24x7, Sitamarhi police station in-charge, who was present at the scene on October 20, quoted the number of people to be 15,000 — exactly the number quoted by the above mentioned reporter.

The official accounts of the incident corroborate the description given by the locals. Ramendra Kumar, Dumra Block Programme Officer, who was posted at the scene on October 20, writes in his complaint accessed by NewsCentral24x7, “Around 12.30 pm, members of the Kali Puja Samiti and with them approximately 1,500 people armed with lathis, sticks, spears and axes and carrying an idol of Maa Kali started moving towards Muraliya Chak from Gaushala Chak. I asked the organiser to show the licence for the procession. But shouting obscene and communal slogans, they moved ahead. I tried to stop them but they did not listen.”

Kumar also writes that the men and women were shouting ‘Hindutva slogans’ and ‘Pakistan Murdabad’. He says that the mob screamed, “Give us one hour; we will finish Muslims (hamein ek ghante ka samay dijiye, musalman ko khatm kar denge).”  

Sitamarhi police station in-charge Shashi Bhushan Singh, who lodged the FIR, was present not too far from the scene of crime. He also writes that the members of Kali Puja Samiti — armed with lathis, axes, spears and swords — moved towards the Muslim-inhabited area. He wrote that the police fired a few rounds in the air and used tear gas to disperse the mob. Section 144 (unlawful assembly) was then imposed in the area.

Kumar added that around this time, “we felt that someone was being burned at the Gaushala Chowk. When we got there, we saw a half-burnt body.”

A shopkeeper on Gaushala Chowk said, “When the mob was at its peak and the administration was unable to control the situation, an old man was passing through the area. The mob beat him to death. After that, some people carried the dead body of the man to Gaushala Chowk, and set fire to him in full public view.”

Who was Zainul Ansari?

An 80-year-old farmer, Ansari was a resident of Bhorhan Bazar — a village approximately 6 km from Sitamarhi city. He has two sons, Ikhlaq and Md. Ashraf. Ikhlaq works as a labourer in Mumbai and Md. Ashraf works in Gujarat.

On October 20, Ansari was returning from his sister’s house when the mob attacked him. Ansari’s cousin, Allah Rakha Khan tells us, “He (Zainul Ansari) left for home from Rajopatti at around 10 am. When he had not reached by 3 pm, we were worried. When we went and inquired at the Riga police station, the police officer told us citing the district administration that they had no information.”

The next day, Khan found out about the attack on Ansari through WhatsApp. “The bloodied man in the picture was Zainul. We took the picture to the District Magistrate. When we showed him the picture, he agreed and said that this body has been sent to Muzaffarpur for post-mortem. We went to Muzaffarpur district hospital. The post-mortem had been conducted by then. We asked that whatever was left of his body be returned to us, but the DM refused. He said that the last rites should be completed in Muzaffarpur. We pleaded with them but when the administration cited law and order, some of us went and performed the last rites in Muzaffarpur.”

Ansari’s relatives have asked the administration to take strict action against the perpetrators. They fear that local political leaders might get involved to help the perpetrators get away scot-free.

Khan says that some politicians came to their house to deliver monetary compensation.

Action taken after the crime

The FIR has been registered against more than 100 people from both communities. Sitamarhi SP Vikas Burman said that they have arrested 38 people. But Sitamarhi station in-charge, Shashi Bhushan Singh, said that 31 people have been arrested.

The residents of Muraliya Chak say that the police has named some people from the minority community who have been living away from Sitamarhi for months.

A man told us on condition of anonymity that both Md. Shamim (son of Md. Safi Sah) and Md. Zakir (son of Md. Israfil) have been living in Mumbai for the past three months. But the police took their names from the voter list, and included them in the FIR without any evidence. However, the police has denied the charge and said that they have included the names of only those who were part of the rioting.

The report of the post-mortem conducted in Muzaffarpur reveals the horrific extent of this hate crime — Ansari was still alive when the mob set him on fire. The post-mortem report reads, “The deceased died due to shock of antemortem burn injury.”

Trade in the city took a serious hit

The exact magnitude damage caused by the riot is unknown. A number of shops belonging to Muslims have been burned down. Between Gaushala Chowk and Bakri bazar, many shops were heavily vandalized. The rampaging mob also burned down a few straw houses.

The manager of Raja Guest House on Mehsol Chowk says that the markets were shut for 10 days. Md. Hussain, who runs a juice shop between Mehsol Chowk and the bus-stand, says that the riot has affected their business since fruit-sellers from other states are still afraid of coming to Sitamarhi.   

Not the first time a crime like this took place on SP Vikas Burman’s watch

Sitamarhi SP, Vikas Burman is a 2008 batch IPS officer. In 2015, when Burman was posted as the SP of Gaya district in Bihar, a mob had lynched three people in Bishunganj village, on suspicion of theft. According to a report in Times of India, the local MP, Hari Manjhi had said that the three were lynched in the presence of police officers. At the time, Burman had denied Manjhi’s accusation.

Burman was later appointed the SP of Nawada district. In 2017, two communities clashed in Nawada town on the occasion of Ram Navmi. Burman had told The New Indian Express, “Tensions were reported at Sadbhavna Chowk, where a demonstration by a group of people was on and some people from another community threw stones at them. Then there was an exchange of stones by both sides. Swift police deployment brought the situation under control.” Matters had worsened to the extent that the police had to open fire in the air to disperse the stone-pelting mob.  

How was the incident reported in the media?

The national media did not get wind of the crime until brutal pictures of the assault on Ansari went viral on social media. The pictures show Ansari lying on the ground, severely wounded and covered in blood as the mob attacked him.

Some local papers did report the lynching, but diluted the intensity of the crime. Dainik Jagran, which published the story on October 21, centred it chiefly on the SP Burman’s ‘bravado’. The story went on to describe him as a ‘Gandhian’ who handled the mob despite the mob pelting stones at him. 

One report published in Prabhat Khabar says that a half-burnt body was found on Gaushala Chowk and has now been identified. Another report says that the administration was able to identify the body after much difficulty. It mentions that after being provided a compensation of Rs 5 lakh, Ansari’s family has expressed gratitude towards the district administration. However, Ansari’s cousin has clearly stated that the administration informed him of Ansari’s body after a lot of running around.

Ansari’s relatives say that local journalists are not writing about the incident due to pressure. State government has sent a notice to a web portal, Millat Times, for its reporting of the issue. The cyber crime cell has ordered the website to take down the video of Ansari’s lynching.

Will the administration answer these questions?

1. When the mob had vandalized the Muslim-dominated area on the night of October 19, why was the administration unable to keep the situation from worsening on the next morning?
2. If a mob of 10,000 (or 15,000) had gathered in the Muslim-inhabited neighbourhood by 12 pm on October 20, why did the administration wait till 4 pm to impose Section 144?
3. Sitamarhi has a history of communal violence. The city has seen riots in 1950 and in 1992 (after the demolition of Babri Masjid). The latter had caused widespread damage. Why did the state government appoint SP Burman to the district, considering a riot had happened in Nawada on his watch?

NewsCentral24x7 tried to meet the members of Kali Puja Samiti but was unable to speak to them. If a statement is received from them, this report will be accordingly updated.

Congress spokesperson Rajesh Rathore told NewsCentral24x7, “Nitish Kumar is in the lap of BJP and RSS. Sitamarhi is just an example, as elections are approaching, communal incidents are occurring on BJP’s behest all over the country.” He said that before district administration, Congress zila adhyaksh, Vimal Shukla, had reached the spot and had tried to restore peace.

You can read the full report in Hindi here.