Honey Raghav's family said he was the 'president' of Hindu Yuva Vahini's local unit.
Does 20-year-old Honey Raghav -- one of the three men arrested for allegedly beating a 62-year-old man to death in Bulandshahr -- belong to Hindu Yuva Vahini? The state police say they are not sure he belongs to the group, formed years ago by Yogi Adityanath, who took over as the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh in March. Attempts have been made to maintain the mystery. A day after his family confirmed to NDTV that he indeed, is a member of the group, his Facebook page, which was full of images and posts about the Vahini, has been deleted.
At their steel and timber shop on a busy Pahasu city lane, Honey Raghav's brother confirmed to NDTV that he was indeed a member of Hindu Yuva Vahini. He was the "president" of the Pahasu city unit, said the man, who refused to give his name.
Besides Honey Raghav, around half-a-dozen "unknown suspects belonging to Hindu Yuva Vahini" have been mentioned in the First Information Report for the murder of Ghulam Mohammad.
Honey Raghav's Facebook page was full of images and posts about Hindu Yuva Vahini
Muniraj G, the newly appointed Senior Superintendent who was on his first day of job, told NDTV, "The complaint does say Hindu Yuva Vahini people were involved but we need to investigate and inform the government, take legal advice and then act".
The family of Ghulam Mohammad says his only fault was living next-door to a young man who had eloped with a girl from another community. The 19-year-old had run off with an 18-year-old girl from the neighbourhood a week ago and her family has accused him of kidnapping.
Ghulam Mohammad's son Vakeel said the attackers had been hounding them ever since the elopement.
"They used to come wearing saffron and harass us, asking us to find out where the boy had gone," he said. On Tuesday they came and dragged out Ghulam Mohammad. "They took him to the jungle, beat him up and left," said Vakeel. Ghulam Mohammad was later taken to the hospital where he succumbed to the injuries.
The four Muslim families of the village now say they are too scared to continue living there. Ghulam Mohammad's cousin Shameem said, "If need be, we will live with under a tarpaulin, but we will leave".