Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) leader Mukesh Soni, was shot dead in Ranchi, Jharkhand on December 15. Mukesh was the Khalari area block president of Vishwa Hindu Parishad and Bajrang Dal. The assassination happened around 6.30 in the evening when he was returning home after closing his jewelry shop. He was just 38 years old. 

By the 19th, Naushad Alam, Ranchi Superintendent of Police (SP) declared that the police had arrested Yunus Ansari for the murder. Ansari’s accomplice and another accused named Prince Khan was absconding since the shooting, he added.

OpIndia quoted Mukesh’s brother Sagar Soni as saying Mukesh was shot twice in the chest. He added that there is one more suspect in the case whose identity remains unknown and that he will be presented in court only. 

Even as he was dying, Mukesh called up his wife to inform her about the incident. While speaking, he fainted on the road and locals rushed him to the Central Hospital but unfortunately, he was dead by then. The VHP leader is survived by his wife, a 6-year-old daughter and a 3-year-old son.

Sagar accused Khalari SHO Farid Alam of being crooked and alleged that he was hand in glove with the criminals. Though Mukesh’s family had lodged a complaint against the SHO, no action has been initiated against Alam.

The murder happened on a bypass road that is surrounded by jungle. Mukesh’s mobile phone was recovered from the crime scene and it contained crucial evidence. 

Feeling that the situation might deteriorate quickly, the local police immediately announced a special investigative team (SIT). The SP said that the case was registered on the basis of the statement of Mukesh’s father who had named both Ansari and Khan.

Earlier, Ansari had built a house illegally and following complaints from the VHP led by Mukesh and many other social workers like him, that building was demolished. 

The accused was into the illegal arms trade and it was Mukesh who tipped off the authorities but corrupt police officials did not arrest Ansari. This is in spite of the fact that Ansari was named an accused in the arms case. Ansari wanted revenge and it ended in Mukesh’s cold-blooded murder.

Attempts by OpIndia to contact Ranchi Senior Superintendent of Police went in vain. Local police claim that the SSP is the only one who can provide any updates about the murder case and that he was busy with assembly duties! 

To add insult to injury, Sagar said that the Congress-JMM state government paid them just Rs 20,000 in the name of ‘assistance.’ Meanwhile, the local BJP MLA Sammari Lal arranged financial aid of Rs 25,000 for the aggrieved family. Sagar said, “We are not going to bow down under any circumstances.” 

Hindu organizations condemned the brutal murder. Several leaders from the VHP, Bajrang Dal and the BJP are visiting the victim’s house and are in touch with the family. They charged that Jharkhand was turning into the old ‘jungle raj.’ There are accusations that Jharkhand chief minister Hemant Soren-led state government was conspiring to turn the state into Kerala and West Bengal models where similar political assassinations have now become common.

Ansari terror in Jharkhand?

In June, Ranchi Child Welfare Committee(CWC) Ranchi took cognizance of a POCSO crime. Imran Ansari kidnapped a minor and took her to a Muslim cleric. The cleric solemnized their ‘marriage’ knowing fully well that she was a minor. Ansari then started sexually abusing her. 

Later on when the issue became public and complaints were registered, the accused threatened the victim using obscene pictures. Ansari reportedly added that he would kill her and her mother if she spoke about it to anyone. Death threats and the fear of slander made both the victim and her mother favor the accused. 

In September, Garhwa district police arrested three people, including notorious criminal Khushtar Ansari. Ansari and his gang had formed an organization called Bharatiya Public Communist Party Marxist and were collecting levies from locals and were indulging in kidnapping and other criminal activities. Arms including pistols and cartridges were recovered from them.

His partner, Mahfooz Ansari was also arrested while he coming from Uttar Pradesh to Garhwa on a motorcycle. There were three people on the motorcycle and they tried to escape the police raiding party. One managed to escape but Ansari was apprehended and items recovered included his laptop.

Around 20 criminal cases are pending against Khushtar Ansari in different police stations. He has a long criminal history of kidnapping and extortion and has also been to jail. Presently out on bail, he had formed the new organization with criminal intentions.

In late 2020, another infamous criminal Rafique Ansari was caught by the Rajrappa police from Ramgarh district of Jharkhand. This Ansari was involved in 19 robbery and dacoity cases in different police stations of Jharkhand state including Seraikela, Jamshedpur, Ranchi, Bokaro, Ramgarh in Jharkhand and train robberies in Purulia, West Bengal. He has been jailed on several occasions but was able to arrange bail every single time.

Another case of grooming and sexual abuse was reported from a village under the Ranka police station area of ​​Garhwa district. The victim complained that one Mohammad Azad Ansari groomed her under the pretext of marriage and raped her several times. He told the girl that he was unmarried and their physical relationship went on for several months. By mid-June, the girl came to know that he was married and she approached the police who arrested both Azad and his father Inamul Ansari.

Gumla district police arrested Munif Ansari during an anti-crime checking campaign and recovered an AK-56 rifle and magazines filled with 7.62 mm bullets that were used to commit violent crimes in Ghaghra. Ansari was driving a car and tried to escape when the police cornered him but he failed. His associates did manage to escape though. This happened in July, this year.

These incidents clearly show that claims like ‘Islam is under threat in India’, ‘Muslims live in fear’, ‘scared minorities’ are just false narratives used to defame Hindus and Bharat. In fact, it is Hindus who are at the receiving end of most crimes.

Muslim society should introspect as to why a high proportion of criminals, much higher than the Muslim share of the country’s total population, are from their community. And no, it is not because Muslims are ‘deprived’ of their due share. Other minorities in the country like Parsis, Jains, Sikhs, Christians (notwithstanding the claims of ‘persecution’ by missionaries) have far less proclivity for violent crime, sexual assaults etc.

Another feature of the Jharkhand police is that most such Islamist criminals have their faces covered during their press photo-ops. Who are they protecting?