The man who is alleged to have provoked the mob that lynched a Muslim man in Mangaluru is still at large, three days after the killing. This has led activists to allege that the police are not taking his role seriously.
A day after the lynching of 38-year-old Ashraf, a daily wage labourer from Kerala, Police Commissioner Anupam Agrawal was asked at a press conference about the involvement of Ravindra Nayak, the husband of former BJP councillor from Pachanady ward. Agrawal replied that the police were looking into his alleged involvement.
On April 30, when TNM asked Agrawal about activists alleging that many eyewitnesses had seen him goad the mob, Agrawal replied that the police were looking for him, and that it would take time. He also claimed that nobody had come forward with information about Nayak’s involvement in the lynching.
Muneer Katipalla, district secretary of the Community Party of India (Marxist), questioned the police’s inaction and said that Nayak is a locally influential person. He claimed that there is fear among the people because of this.
Some sources in the village, who have been in touch with activists, have also contested the narrative that Ashraf was attacked for raising pro-Paskistan slogans. According to his relatives in Kerala’s Wayanad district, Ashraf was mentally ill.
“Eyewitnesses told me that a man called Sachin questioned Ashraf about drinking water meant for the cricket players. Things went downhill from there. He asked Ashraf if he was Pakistani. Those who saw Ashraf said he appeared mentally ill,” Sajith told TNM. Sachin is the main accused and has been arrested.
What appears to have made matters worse is that Ashraf did not understand Tulu, the local language.
Meanwhile, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, who was reprimanded by the party high command over his comments on the Pahalgam attack, has reacted to the lynching in Mangaluru saying shouting pro-Pakistan slogans amounts to treason. Home Minister G Parameshwara too focussed on the alleged slogans in response to the lynching. Neither has commented on the role played by rightwing groups in the violence.
“There were hundreds of people at the cricket tournament when the lynching happened. It is the job of the police to gather information, investigate and collect evidence. The police response so far indicates that the police do not want the investigation to progress in the right direction,” says Muneer.
Sajith Shetty, a local social activist residing in Vamanjoor, told TNM that he learned of the lynching from local residents on Sunday night and wrote about it on Facebook. “I know all the accused. Most of them are from the Bajrang Dal. Most of them have been arrested, but the one who goaded them on, Ravindra Nayak, has not been named in the FIR.”
Asked for contacts of the eyewitnesses, Sajith said, “Many people told me that they saw Ravindra Nayak, but now their phones are all switched off. They are also friends with the accused, they all know each other. The police too got in touch with me looking for eyewitnesses,” he said.
Muneer said he is not surprised. “Eyewitnesses who saw Ravindra Nayak told us, but they’re too scared to say it openly. That area is a Sangh Parivar fortress. Hindutva activists have no fear of anything there. When cricket tournaments are organised in that ground, Muslims are not allowed to watch. There isn’t even any other political party which has a presence in that area,” Muneer said.
“His nickname is Pistol Ravi. His wife was a local councillor. Who will be willing to speak up against him? If he’s innocent, why has he gone underground? Let the police answer that and also tell us how many cases Ravindra Nayak has against him in the Mangaluru Rural police station,” Muneer said.
The CPI(M) is demanding that the case be handed over to a Special Investigation Team.
Delayed investigation
For the past three days, activists have been alleging that the police deliberately delayed investigating the case.
In his press conference, Commissioner Agrawal had said that the police initially registered only a case of unnatural death because of the lack of visible injuries on the body. The police registered a case of mob lynching under Section 103 (2) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita only after the post-mortem revealed on Monday, April 28, that Ashraf had been brutally beaten.
According to Muneer, the police’s claims are incredulous. “This incident did not occur in an isolated area. It occurred around 3 pm during a cricket tournament that hundreds of people attended. By that evening, news of the assault had spread to the whole neighbourhood. On Sunday, we activists knew that a Muslim migrant worker had been killed by a mob. How did the police not know about this until Monday afternoon?” said Muneer.
In the lookout notice issued by the police on April 27, the police said that the body of an unidentified man had been found and that it appeared that he had fallen down due to inebriation or had had a fight with someone.
“But when you look at the photos of the body, it is clear that he had injuries that suggested assault,” Muneer told the media.
Photos of Ashraf’s body show that he was found wearing only jeans and his feet had no footwear. His chest, face, arms, feet, and jeans were caked with mud.
What the FIR says
The FIR, which is based on a complaint by a man named Deepak Kumar, a resident of Kulashekar, has named 19 people, but Ravindra Nayak is not one of them. The main accused is a man named Sachin, whom the police have already arrested.
Deepak said in his complaint that Ashraf was walking towards the cricket ground from the railway track when suddenly he shouted “Pakistan Pakistan”.
According to the FIR, the attackers said “He is shouting Pakistan Pakistan, don’t spare him.” When the attackers chased Ashraf, he ran towards the road to the Bhattra Kallurti daivasthana. In his haste to get away from the mob, Ashraf fell down and the attackers caught hold of him. They kicked and punched him, the FIR says.
“He was screaming. When he tried to run away, Manjunath and Devadas caught hold of his legs and dragged him for some distance. Then all of them assaulted him again. Some assaulted him with logs. I pleaded with the attackers not to hit him. But they threatened me and I left the spot,” the FIR said.
Later that day, Deepak learned that the assaulted man had died and that a man named Manjunath had filed a complaint with the police. However, the next day, when he went to the police station complying with the police summons, he learned that Manjunath had given a false complaint to the police about what had happened, and so, filed a complaint on Monday, April 28.
Mangaluru police have arrested 20 people so far.
Political apathy
Despite the grave allegations against the police, no politician has clearly condemned the lynching of a man based on his religious identity.
District in-charge minister Dinesh Gundu Rao said on X that Dakshina Kannada district was a place of harmony. “But for many years, anti-social forces have been attempting to destroy the region’s communal harmony. The recent incident in Kudupu is a part of these attempts.”
He even lauded the city police for their prompt action in finding the culprits. “I applaud the police for their prompt action in tracing the accused. It is also the responsibility of the police to ensure that harmony is maintained. Some anti-social forces are attempting to spread hatred after this incident. The police must not allow that to happen.”
Chief Minister Siddaramaiah’s remarks were even more disturbing. Without directly condemning the brutal killing, he told the media, “If the Pakistan Zindabad slogan was shouted, it is wrong, whoever it is. Inquiry is still going on, a case has been registered. Let the report come, it will be clear as to what action should be taken against whom. If anyone speaks in favour of Pakistan, it is wrong, it is treason.”
These remarks come days after he was criticised for his remarks on India’s response to the Pahalgam terror attack, when he said that war should be the last resort and never the only option.
Home Minister G Parameshwara told the media on Tuesday, that Ashraf had raised ‘Pakistan zindabad’ slogans. A day later, he issued a clarification, saying that he meant that the attackers had made that claim.
Udupi-based activist K Phaniraj, who has documented several instances of Hindutva violence, said, “How is it that the police could not establish the chain of events about an incident that occurred in broad daylight? Even now, 48 hours after the incident, the police have not issued a statement on how and why the incident occurred.”
Three officers suspended
On May 1, the city police suspended three police personnel for dereliction of duty. Documents with TNM show that the city police held Mangaluru Rural Inspector Shivakumar KR and intelligence officer Chandra P responsible for withholding information, which led to the case first being registered as a case of unnatural death which was later converted to one of mob lynching.
On April 29, on questioning the public and the accused, it came to light that a man named Deepak informed the police about the mob lynching. However, he was told to call 112. “This shows that the Mangaluru Rural Inspector and the staff at the police station knew of the mob lynching.”
Inspector Shivakumar not only failed to inform senior officers who visited the spot on April 27, about the incident despite being aware of it, he also roped in spectators and players from the cricket tournament to act as witnesses while carrying out the panchnama of the body.
On the day of the killing, a cop attached to the Mangaluru Traffic (East) police station informed Chandra P, who was with the Special Branch of the Mangaluru Rural Police Station’s intelligence wing, about the mob lynching. However, Chandra P neither gathered any information about the incident, nor informed higher officers, the suspension order said.
Yallalinga who was assigned beat duty in that area did not inform senior officers either about the cricket tournament or the mob lynching and was suspended.
This reporting is made possible with support from Report for the World, an initiative of The GroundTruth Project.