Textile trader Tarun Omprakash Sardana was stabbed to death on Friday night in Surat, Gujarat by his Muslim employee, Avesh Ahmed Khan, whom he had hired just 4 days back.
Tarun had a shop by the name Mangal Creation in Shubham Market of Surat city. Around 7 PM on Friday, he was attacked by his employee and suffered grievous wounds, while the attacker managed to flee. Khan stabbed Tarun multiple times in the chest and stomach after some petty argument, and escaped leaving the knife stuck in the stomach of the victim.
Tarun, a native of Sri Ganganagar in Rajasthan, was rushed to a private hospital but succumbed to his wounds late at night.
Police Inspector M.V. Kikani, who is leading the investigation, said that as per CCTV footage gathered from the scene of crime, the attacker has been identified as Avesh Ahmed Khan, originally from Maharashtra.
Shubham Market and nearby Hariom Market were completely shut down on Saturday to protest the brutal murder. Local traders are highly agitated and also fearful for their own safety. The traders also complained to police about some anti-social elements infiltrating the crowded market, picking pockets and sexually harassing women customers.
A police forensic team has gathered blood, hair strands, finger prints and other evidence from the scene of crime. A huge crowd turned out for the funeral procession of Tarun Sardana on Saturday. People reminisced about his friendly behaviour and how he had taken up additional responsibility as a society committee member.
As per latest reports in regional media, the accused was detained in Buldhana, Maharashtra on Saturday and brought by police to Surat on Sunday. He claims to be a 17-year-old minor. Questioning revealed that he was hired by Tarun just 4 days before the murder.
From the second day itself, the accused had started carrying a knife used by professional criminals with him to work. He claimed that Tarun used ‘abusive language’ with him, due to which he was ‘angered’ and decided to stab his employer.
This brutal murder has gone virtually unnoticed in public discourse, with barely any mention on national TV networks or primetime debates. No one has asked the question that must be asked – what drives young Muslim men to such acts of violence at the drop of a hat; their involvement in such crimes being disproportionately high compared to their population, and official status as a ‘minority community’ which we are told by the intelligentsia is reeling under a ‘fascist Hindu onslaught’ since May 2014?
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