One thief arrested in the 2019 Tabrez Ansari death case

Seraikela police has reportedly arrested a person named Arif Ansari for allegedly possessing two mobiles phones that were stolen two years ago from a house in Dhatkidih under Seraikeal police station. The incident had gained wide attention after one of the accused named Tabrez Ansari had died in custody due to cardiac arrest. Arif Ansari, who is a resident of Kahamdiha village under Kharsawan police station, was arrested after he had switched on the two stolen phones. The phones were on kept on surveillance by the police since they were stolen in an incident of theft at the houses of Hemsagar Pradhan and Rajesh Pramanik on June 17, 2019. According to Jagran, Arif Ansari deals in sale and purchase of stolen mobile phones. He has been sent jailed several times in similar cases.

What was the case?

In June 2019, the incidents of theft took place at the house of three persons named Hemsagar Pradhan, Rajesh Pramanik and Kamal Mahato. Three culprits were reportedly involved in the theft, out of whom the locals were able to nab one Mohammad Tabrez Ansari. Ansari was brutally beaten by the locals before the police had reached the spot. After reaching there police rescued Ansari and sent him for medical examination. Ansari was accused of trying to steal a bike. The stolen and a few other items were recovered by the police. Three days after the incident, Ansari’s health had deteriorated and he was admitted in a hospital. He was declared dead by doctors in the hospital.

The matter was picked up by national media after Tabrez Ansari’s death was portrayed as a case of mob lynching. The matter was highly politicised and violent protests were carried out by Muslims organisations against Ansari’s death. However, the investigation team set up by the district administration to investigate the cause of Ansari’s death said that he could have died due to stress-induced cardiac arrest. The murder charges were dropped by the police from the charge sheet filed in the case after the autopsy report showed cardiac arrest as the cause of death. However, the murder charges were reinstated after his wife threatened to commit suicide.