Bihar imam in UP ‘thrashed, pushed’ from train to die

BAREILLY: A 35-year-old imam from Bihar, returning home from Urs in Bareilly, died after he was allegedly thrashed by train passengers and was thrown off the coach near the Bareilly Cantonment railway station on April 26 night.Tausif Raza Mazhari’s wife, Tabassum Khatoon, said her husband called her around 10.30pm on April 26 informing her that fellow passengers were beating him and accusing him of stealing. Soon, the phone was switched off.TOI has accessed the autopsy report which mentions five injuries on the face, shoulder and chest. His skull and all ribs were fractured. The report stated that the cause of death was haemorrhagic shock and coma.Initially, police noted the death as an accident. The imam was identified with the help of his Aadhaar card, and the body was sent for post-mortem.After an audio recording of the call was widely circulated online, police launched a deeper investigation. In the 32-second audio, Mazhari was heard purportedly saying: “Tabassum, call the cops immediately, these people are thrashing me badly.”Tabassum said on Friday, “When I told my husband to seek help from other passengers, he replied that no one came forward to help.”SP (City) Manush Pareek said, “Mazhari was heading from Bareilly to Siwan. On April 27, GRP was informed about the abandoned body. Initially, it was claimed that the man fell from the train. The audio is under scrutiny. We have assured the family that an FIR would be lodged.”Bareilly Junction GRP SHO Sushil Kumar said that Raza was travelling to Siwan on a general ticket. Since the body was found within Bareilly Cantonment police station limits, jurisdiction lies with local police. GRP has no direct involvement; all further investigation will be handled by local authorities concerned..