UP Police shoot Muslim youth a day after he pleads for safety in court
New Delhi: India’s worsening climate of impunity has come under fresh scrutiny after the Uttar Pradesh Police under BJP’s Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath shot and injured a Muslim youth in Muzaffarnagar—just a day after he released a video from inside a court, desperately pleading for protection from custodial torture.
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According to Kashmir Media Service, the incident has again raised questions about Indian police action against members of the Muslim community under the ongoing “Operation Langda”.
The shooting took place on Friday (21 November) in the Nai Mandi police station area. The youth, Chand Mohammad, had gone to court to surrender in an old case. In a video widely shared online, he sat crying in his lawyer’s chamber, saying the police wanted to kill him.
In the video, Chand Mohammad says: “I have come to surrender. I have done nothing wrong. The SOG team is waiting downstairs. They want to kill me. I have small children. Please save me. They filed a false case against me.”
Another video showed his lawyer, Aas Mohammad, making serious allegations against the police. He said the case against Chand involved an assault complaint filed in 2024 and that a surrender application had been submitted on 16 November. According to the lawyer, the police kept delaying the surrender date by saying the investigation was still going on.
He said: “My client came to surrender because the case has not been proven, but the presence of the SOG outside the court was a threat to his life.”
He added that Chand had the right to surrender safely and that the police behaviour had created fear.
Despite these videos, the next afternoon police announced that they had caught Chand during a cordon operation on the Pinna bypass. They claimed he fired at officers, leading them to shoot him in the leg before arresting him. Police also said a pistol was recovered.
Human rights groups and opposition leaders, however, say the timing and the videos make the police version doubtful. They point out that the man had already expressed fear that he would be shot in a staged encounter.
A senior local activist said: “The question is simple: if he was ready to surrender inside a court, why would he run away and shoot at police the next day? The video shows he feared exactly what has now happened.”
Opposition leaders have also accused the state of using police force against Muslims under the name of improving law and order. A member of a rights organisation in Muzaffarnagar said: “This is not the first time Muslim men have been targeted like this. Operation Langda has created fear, not safety.”
The incident has intensified public debate on police behaviour in Uttar Pradesh, especially towards Muslim citizens.
