india

Updated: Sep 02, 2019 16:46 IST

A 30-year-old suspect in the lynching of Mohammad Ikhlaq nearly four years ago was arrested after a gunfight with the police in Uttar Pradesh’s Greater Noida early on Monday, officials said.

The man identified as Hariom was arrested at 3:30am near Samana Canal in Jarcha.

The 55-year-old Ikhlaq was killed and his son Danish was seriously injured when a mob of about 200 people attacked their house in Bisada village in western Uttar Pradesh on September 28, 2015, on suspicion of consuming beef.

The station house officer of Jarcha police station, Anil Kumar, said police received information about a suspect early morning in the area.

“A police team reached the spot and found the suspect on a motorcycle, which had no registration number plate. The suspect started the motorcycle and tried to flee having seen the police,” he said.

Kumar said Hariom, who is wanted in 11 criminal cases, including murder, attempt to murder, Arms Act, loot, etc in Greater Noida and Ghaziabad, opened fire at the police team when he was signalled to stop for checking.

“The police opened fire in retaliation in which the suspect was injured in his left leg and fell on the ground,” he said.

The team then apprehended the accused and seized a country-made gun and the motorcycle from him.

Police said Hariom is one of the 18 people named in Ikhlaq’s murder in Bisada village in September 2015. Of the 18 arrested, one suspect died in the jail.

The incident had triggered national outrage, with many pointing to religious intolerance and leading a chain of protests across the country. Many writers, filmmakers and scientists returned their awards in the wake of the incident.