People of Turkpurwa where Satyam was lynched fear village head Yusuf

On 28 August 2023, a minor student named Satyam was murdered in Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh. Some minors, along with the main accused Yusuf, have been arrested by the police. The family members of the deceased along with Hindu organisations are demanding an NSA probe against Yusuf along with the demand of a bulldozer action.

Speaking to OpIndia, local residents of Kheeri described Yusuf as a bully and a man who beat people on a daily basis. There are also allegations of illegal occupation of land in Turkpurwa, a Muslim-dominated area where Satyam was killed. Also, people in the vicinity have to face crimes like buffalo theft and sheep theft.

Speaking to OpIndia, a local resident of Kheeri and an office-bearer of the Hindu organisation said that the Turkpurwa village where Satyam was killed has negligible Hindu population. He alleged that many Muslims in Turkpurwa have illegally occupied government land.

An office-bearer of the Hindu organisation told OpIndia that the present Muslim population that is seen in Kheeri was not seen there in this proportion 5-6 years ago. He demanded an administrative inquiry into the one-sided demographic change. Another local resident told us that the Muslim-dominated Turkpurwa stretches for about 300 metres on the main road.

Off the road, it is also in the form of a village where there are Mazars, 3 mosques and madrasas. Except for a few Scheduled Caste people’s households on one side of this village, almost all the people dwelling in the interiors of the village are from the Muslim community.

Residents around Kheeri Turkpurwa are quite fed up with incidents of theft including the theft of animals. On January 18, 2021, Rajesh Kumar in Kanchanpur, a neighbouring village in Turkpurwa, lodged a complaint with the police stating that around 20 of his sheep were stolen by someone at night.

The price of these sheep was estimated to be around 2 lakh rupees. Rajesh then described himself as poor and a debtor and said that through these sheep, his family was sustained. He had said that he had become unemployed since the sheep were stolen.

Even before this incident, on April 16, 2018, social worker Rajendra Mishra had alleged that a gang of buffalo thieves was active in the surrounding areas including Kheeri and Koraon. On the complaint of Rajendra Mishra, Prayagraj Police had instructed the subordinates to take necessary steps.

इस सम्बन्ध में थाना प्रभारी कोरांव,खीरी,मांडा से वार्ता कर आवश्यक दिशा निर्देश दिया गया।

— POLICE COMMISSIONERATE PRAYAGRAJ (@prayagraj_pol) April 16, 2018

The people of Kheeri told OpIndia that there are around 6500 voters in the village. Of these, 1,500 voters belong to the Muslim community, who mostly live in Turkpurwa. SC community has an almost equal number of votes as that of the Muslims. The rest are all other people.

We were told that about half a dozen candidates were contesting for the post of village head, the only Muslim candidate being Yusuf. According to local residents, Yusuf got a consolidated vote from almost all Muslims and some Hindus also voted for him.

Locals say that none of the Hindu candidates got Muslim votes in the election. Yusuf eventually defeated his rival Avneesh Kesarwani by around 250 votes. Yusuf had earlier been a candidate for the post of village head twice but lost on both occasions.

Villagers in Kheeri told OpIndia that there is a Mazar almost adjacent to the main road. This tomb was earlier in a small part and movement was normal here. We were told that Yusuf won the election and first of all he beautified this tomb.

Yusuf not only renovated the tomb but also installed gates, grills etc. in it. This time a big fair was also held at the same mazar in Muharram under the leadership of Yusuf. The villagers could not give information about whether this tomb was built on legal land or on illegal land.

We asked the locals why no one came forward to save Satyam. In response, local residents said that people in Kheeri were so scared of Yusuf that no one in the village dared to obstruct any of his work. People described him as a strongman and said that Yusuf has been booked for assault in the past as well.

So far, a total of 5 cases have been claimed against Yusuf. It is also believed that Yusuf can be prosecuted under the Gangster Act. Yusuf’s family runs trucks, but people described Yusuf’s main job as brokering in government offices. A report by Patrika also mentions that Yusuf has a strong hold on the police station and he spends ample money on the policemen as well.

Not only this, the report also states that the police officer travels with the cars given by Yusuf. The report further said that on the last Bakrid, Yusuf had given a feast to the policemen at the police station. He is also accused of misusing government funds and implicating complainants in fake cases. In this, some other officials of the district have been said to be his helpers.

Speaking to OpIndia, locals said they were waiting for bulldozers to be run on Yusuf’s illegal properties. People said that the 48-hour time given for strict action by the District Magistrate Prayagraj has now been completed. Once again, information has come out that the administration has informed about a time of another 48 hours for strict action.

However, some people also reported that the administrative officials are collecting a detailed account of Yusuf’s crimes and the assets acquired by him. Based on this, further action will be taken against him.

16-year-old Satyam Sharma was beaten to death on August 28, 2023, in Kheeri, Prayagraj. The reason for the murder is said to be Satyam’s opposition to the accused molesting his cousin. Satyam’s cousin had begged for mercy to save her brother by bowing before Mohammad Yusuf.