Retired SI in Tamil Nadu fighting Waqf land cases killed; NHRC orders police probe

New Delhi: The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has taken suo motu cognisance of a media report about a retired sub-inspector of police who was murdered by a group in broad daylight in the Tirunelveli district of Tamil Nadu.

Zakhir Hussain Bijili was murdered by a four-member group on March 18. Zakhir was returning home on his bike after offering Fajr (morning prayers) when he was stopped by the armed gang and was hacked to death, the police said. Hours after the murder, two men surrendered at the Nellai court, and the police said they were on the lookout for at least two others.

The family of the deceased alleged that ‘police inaction and gross negligence’ led to his murder.

SI was fighting the encroachment of Waqf land

Reportedly, the deceased was an activist fighting legal cases against the encroachment of Waqf land in the area and was receiving death threats. He had alleged that the police were not taking action against them and supporting them.

The commission observed that the contents of the news report, if true, raise a serious violation of the human rights of the victim. Therefore, it has issued notices to the director general of police and the district collector, in Tirunelveli, Tamil Nadu, calling for a detailed report in the matter within four weeks.

Zakhir was one of the administrators of Murtim Zarkhan Dargha and was a Mutawalli (a person in charge of managing a Waqf property) of a property in Tirunelveli town.

For the past year, Zakhir had been fighting a legal case against a couple—Thoufiq and Noorunisa—accusing them of encroaching 36 cents of Waqf land. Zakhir alleged that the couple had falsified documents to claim they owned the land, and the case is pending in the Waqf tribunal.