On May 22, 1987, atabout2 pm seven State Provincial Armed Constabulary (PAC) thucks arrived in Hashimpur locality of Suraj Kunda area, which was the riot tom area of Meerut; with them arrived some army trucks. They started a Search of the Muslim houses, By 4:00 p.m,, 400 men, women and children were driven out of their homes and made to sit on the road under a scorching sun, Then consultations followed between the PAC and army officers after which they began sorting the people to segrate the women, children and old. The remaining 130 people (Youngman) were taken away in PAC trucks supposedly to the police station for further interrogation. The others were allowed to return home.
After leaving Hashimpur, the trucks were parked near Cantonment police station. At7:30 p.m. a truck moved towards Ghaziabad on Delhi Road. Besides Platoon Commandant Surendra Singh, there were eight PAC men and five soldiers on the truck. The truck speed off and stopped for a while on the bridge on the Ganga Canal which passes by Murad Nagar village near Modi Nagar. The truck was then driven off the main road, about half a kilometre towards Abupur village, near another canal. Now it was about 8:00 p.m, Near the bushes around a mango tree about two dozen young men from the truck were lined up and SHOT DEAD at close range, Their bodies were then thrown into the nearby canal, The others in the truck witnessing this begged the official assassins to spare their lives whereupon they were brutally beaten up. The uniformed assassins then Grove off to the bridge on the Hidon Canal near the village of ‘Makanpur which is under the jurisdiction of the Link Road Police Station of Ghaziabad. Here, at about 9:30 p.m they line up the remaining young men and shot them dead.
The spot where this Crime was committed is not even half a kilometer away from the camp of the 41st battalion of the Uttar Pradesh PAC, Burning with ‘enmity, these uniformed assassins took their blood splattered truck to their camp where they washed it and hurried back to Meerut where they were supposed to be on duty.
Not for a single moment did they realize then that a small m is take would expose their heinous crime to the world.
Near the scene of the massacre is the Makanpur Sales Tax Barrier where there is also a tea shop. ‘Some boys working at the tea shop heard the shots and ran to find out. Later some villagers from Makanpur also joined them. They saw 15 or 16 dead bodies lying in water. When they approached the bodies ‘a wounded man cried out for help.
In a short time the news of the massacre reached the Link Road police station, situated about half a kilometer away. They were all taken aback. At about 11:00 p.m. Nasim Zaidi, the District Magistrate of Ghaziabad, and Narain Rai, head of the District Police Ghaziabad, learned about the massacre and dashed to the spot of the carnage. Among the dead they found three men still alive who were immediately hauled out of the water. The three injured were taken to Narendra Mohan Hospital in Mohan Nagar, Ghaziabad, One of them died soon afterwards but two survived. Babu Din (a Muslim), one of the survivors, told the whole story (eye witnesses of the carnage and also of the One on the banks of Ganga Canal, near Murad Nagar).
Acting on Babu Din’s statement the authorities ordered the Muradnagar police to investigate the case. Within an hour the Murad Nagar police informed the authorities that all the dead bodies had flowed away except one severely wounded who was found hanging by the bank of the canal, This Youngman identified as Mujibur Rahman (a Muslim) who was immediately ‘brought back to Mohan Nagar Hospital. Mujibur Rahman told the same story of the massacre, adding that from among the men herded by the PAC, two had escaped the shooting and had run away. He did not know what had happened to the other three trucks laden with other young men.
He said that all of them were from Hashimpur (all Muslims) they were workers of the textile printing industry in Meerut.
On the basis of the information provided by both the injured (in the night between May 22 and 23) Murad Nagar Police Station registered a First Information Report (FIR) against the murderous PAC and army soldiers under section 201, 302, 307 and 364 of the Indian Penal Code. A similar report was registered by the Link Road Police Station lodged by Babu Din.
After the FIR registration, the police chief in Meerut, Daya Shankar Bhatnagar, was informed. He arrived in Ghazabad the cane night. In the ensuing confusion, the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, Veer Bahadur Singh, who was sleeping in the Uttar Pradesh guest house in Dethi was woken up and if formed of the event at 4:00 p.m. He, too, dashed to Ghaziabad and ordered the authorities concerned NOT TO DISCLOSE THE FACTS TO ANYONE, He was furious to know that the FIR had been registered. (Obviously being a Hindu Chief Minister of “secular” democratic system wanted to cover up the massacre of 130 Muslims, by state PAC). Since then both the State and Federal governments are trying their best to cover up the episode.
According to reliable sources, Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi was informed of the massacre through the Civil Intelligence Department (CID) on the evening of May 23. The following day the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh was summoned to the Prime Minister’s office in Delhi. And the same day armed guard was posted around the wounded man. (None including press reporters were allowed to talk to them), Officers of the Central Police are now guarding them in the Mohan Nagar Hospital, Ghaziabad, to prevent anyone from reaching them, (Translated from Hind by Khalid Sabir).
Article extracted from this publication >> September 11, 1987
