Venkaiah Naidu condemns lynching of Muslim teen on-board train

Union Minister M Venkaiah Naidu on Wednesday condemned the recent lynching of a Muslim boy on board to a Mathura-bound passenger train, describing the incident as “brutal and atrocious.”

He also said that action must be taken against the culprits.

"Any incident of such nature is condemnable. It is brutal, atrocious. It will not be acceptable at all. People who are responsible for the same should be identified and dealt very firmly," he told reporters here.

16-year-old Junaid was stabbed to death by a group of some 15 men on board to a Delhi-Mathura passenger train last week after an argument over vacating seats. Junaid along with three other boys was returning home after shopping for Eid in Delhi when the incident took place.

The perpetrators, who boarded the train at Okhla railway station and entered into an argument with Junaid over vacating seats and began thrashing him and his friends, reportedly called them as “anti-nationals, beef eaters and traitors,” before one of the assailants took out a knife and stabbed Junaid at Asavati railway station in Haryana.

“No body can take law into their hands whatever may be the reason. I hope the concerned local agencies conduct an inquiry and take appropriate action," Naidu said.

Meanwhile, the Government Railway Police (GRP) in Haryana claimed to have arrested four persons in connection with the case.

“One of them is 50-year old Delhi government employee,” a multimedia news agency quoted GRP's Superintendent of Police (SP) Kamal Deep as saying in Haryana.

The officer also claimed to have got some leads on the person who attacked Junaid with a knife on the moving train last week.