By Muslim Mirror

In connection with the suspected murder of a man who was charged with cow slaughter, the Uttar Pradesh Police on Sunday filed a complaint against 12 police officers.

The deceased was identified as 42-year-old Zeeshan Haider, who was shot in Deoband on September 5, 2021, during a gunfight between alleged cattle smugglers and the police. Haider’s family claims that he has been falsely implicated in a cow slaughter case by the police, reported PTI.

According to Haider’s relatives, the police wrongly accused him of being involved in a case involving the slaughter of cows.

Afroz, Haider’s wife, petitioned the Saharanpur Chief Judicial Magistrate in November 2021, and the case against the police officials was then brought.

Afroz testified in court that she and her husband were at home when the police called to inquire about something. She claimed that Haider’s family was later notified that he had a bullet wound to the foot. At the hospital, he was pronounced dead.

The police claim that they had received a tip-off about cow slaughter and raided a location where they found Haider and a few others with country-made pistols, reported The Times of India.

“They [the alleged cattle smugglers] fired at the police team and Haider was struck by a bullet from one of their weapons,” the police claimed. “He was taken to a hospital where he succumbed.”

Additionally, according to the authorities, equipment and about 300 kg of meat were found after the battle. Additionally, six people were the subject of the case.

The police’s account of the events, however, has been disputed by Haider’s family.

“My husband had two licensed firearms and 40 bighas of land. Why should he keep an illegal weapon?” said Afroz.

In its ruling, the court instructed the Uttar Police to file a murder case against the sub-inspectors Omveer, Yashpal Singh, and Asgar Ali, the head constables Sukhpal Singh, Kunwar Bharat, Pramod Kumar, and Vipin, as well as the constables Rajveer Singh, Devendra, Neetu Yadav, Ankit Kumar, and Brajesh Kumar.

Superintendent of Police (Dehat) Suraj Rai, said, “further legal action will be taken after the entire episode is probed.”