Ajmer Imam killing: Madrassa students plot and execute Maulana’s murder, send police on wild goose chase

Fifteen days after the shocking murder of a 32-year-old cleric at a madrassa in Rajasthan’s Ajmer, the police have apprehended six students of the madrassa for plotting the maulana’s murder. As per the police, the children killed the cleric after being fed up with facing sexual abuse at his hands.

Ever since Maulana Mohammad Mahir’s killing on April 27, the children had maintained that the cleric was killed by three unidentified masked men who entered the madrassa and cornered the children, threatening dire consequences if they revealed anything to the police.

However, after the police failed to find any concrete evidence to establish a clear sequence of events despite investigating multiple angles and theories, doubts began to be raised about the veracity of the eyewitness claims.

“It was stated that on April 27, masked assailants arrived at the madrassa and hit Maulana Mahir on his head after threatening the students. A case under Section 302 was filed on the basis of a complaint filed by the victim’s brother. The police team looked into multiple angles since eyewitnesses stated that the crime was carried out by unknown people. Investigations were carried out on all aspects but we were unable to find any concrete evidence or lead in the matter,” Ajmer SP Devendra Kumar Bishnoi told the media on Sunday.

The senior official said that the investigating team then decided not to take the narration by eyewitnesses at face value and to investigate deeper into it. “In the course of the investigation, we realised that eyewitnesses had concealed the fact that the Maulana was also strangled besides being hit on the head with a stick, which the post-mortem report established,” SP Bishnoi said.

This, as per the official, was the biggest signal to the police that there was something off in the eyewitness accounts. The children were called again with their guardians and a fresh inquiry was conducted by a new team. “When we put up the questions to the children in a different way, the children admitted that they had carried out the murder,” the official said.

The police further said that the children planned and carried out the murder after being repeatedly abused sexually by the cleric.

“As per the account narrated by the children, the Maulana would watch obscene videos on his mobile and also show it to the children and indulge in inappropriate behaviour with them. The cleric tried similar misconduct with a new entrant at the madrassa. However, he protested against the behaviour and threatened to tell his parents. When the boy revealed it to the other children, they claimed that other children had also been sexually abused by the maulana. The children then decided enough was enough and that they needed to end this once and for all.”

According to the police, the children first decided to serve him dinner laced with rat poison as part of their plan. However, the plan failed as the maulana arrived at the madrassa after having dinner outside. The children then mixed sleeping pills in the raita (curd) and served it to him. The Maulana felt restless and went off to sleep.

“At night, as per their plan, the children caught hold of a stick and a net to use as a rope. The children hit the maulana on his head with the stick and then used the net as a rope to strangulate him after overpowering him. The children waited in the maulana’s room to ensure that he was dead before leaving. They hid the mobile phone and tried to destroy other evidence as well. The FSL report has corroborated our findings. And the children admitted their guilt after being confronted in the fresh round of questioning,” Bishnoi said.