A 25-year-old Rinku Sharma was brutally murdered in Delhi's Mangol Puri area on the night of February 10 by a group of Muslim men from the same neighbourhood. Within hours, video of the crime went viral on social media and by the morning of February 11, the area was gripped with tension and communally charged sloganeering.
Delhi police has made five arrests in the case so far - Nashruddin, Islam, Mehtab, Zahid and Tajuddin - and has denied any communal angle to the crime. According to the police, Rinku Sharma was stabbed following a quarrel that arose during a birthday party on the fateful day. However, family members of the deceased differ.
When BOOM reached Mangolpuri's K block, where the incident took place, heavy security had been deployed in the area. Members of Bajrang Dal, of which the deceased was reportedly a member, were visiting the grieving family.
BOOM spoke to the grieving family members and friends of the deceased to find more about the incident.
What Does The Police Say?
Rinku worked as a lab technician at Balaji Hospital in Paschim Vihar of Outer Delhi. He was the eldest of the three sons in the family.
On the night of February 10, the deceased was reportedly attending a friend Babu's birthday party where a quarrel broke out between those attending the party. Zahid, one of the accused who has now been arrested, was also at the party. According to Delhi police, the quarrel had started over the shutting down of a restaurant.
When BOOM spoke to Rinku's mother, she confirmed that Rinku went to his friend's birthday party on February 10.
She added that people later followed Rinku to his home. "They banged the doors with wooden stick. My son told me to let him speak to them but I did not let him open the door. He said 'mother, I am your brave son, nothing will happen to me'. When he opened the door, they pulled him out and hit him with sticks. Later, they stabbed him," Rinku's mother told BOOM.
While Delhi police has said that the quarrel at the birthday party was over the shutting down of a restaurant opened by Rinku's friend, his mother denied such claims. She told BOOM, "Where do we have the money to open a restaurant."
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What Does The Family Say?
According to Rinku's mother, the problems between the victim and the accused go back to August 2020. She told BOOM that Rinku was quite involved in the Ram Temple construction in Ayodhya. "On August 5, when diyas were lit for Ram Temple, he lit diyas at home too. Six months ago there was a quarrel on a minor issue. He was saying jai shri Ram to a friend. However, the wife of an accused thought he was taunting her and she started a fight with Rinku. They (accused) did not like him. This has been going on since months as they (accused) used to taunt him," his mother told BOOM.
On August 5, 2020, the foundation stone for Ram Temple was laid in Ayodhya, Uttar Pradesh.
According to Rinku's friends, he was a member of Bajrang Dal and Bharatiya Janata Party's Yuva Morcha and was quite active in the donation drive for Ram Temple that began in January this year.
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The crime branch has visited the home of deceased Rinku Sharma in Mangol Puri on February 13 to collect evidence.
BOOM also tried to get in touch with the family members of the accused but one of the houses was locked and the other had been ransacked. The family members were not present there.
