Ghaziabad: A day after Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath ordered an impartial probe and speedy arrest of those involved in the attack on YouTuber Saleem Wastik, one of the accused was killed in an encounter with the police in Loni.
The dead man has been identified as Zeeshan (24). He carried a reward of Rs 1 lakh for the attack on Wastik. His associate, suspected to be the second attacker, escaped during the shootout, the police said.
According to the police Zeeshan, a resident of Amroha who had been living in Khoda Colony for some time, had stabbed Wastik (55) multiple times in his office in Loni on Friday. The attack left the victim with life-threatening injuries, as reported by TOI.
More than seven teams were formed after the attack. They scanned footage from over 200 CCTV cameras and identified Zeeshan as one of the attackers. A reward of Rs 25,000 was announced on Zeeshan’s arrest on Friday and this was raised to Rs 1 lakh on Sunday,
DCP (rural) Surendra Nath Tiwari said.
Around 9 pm on Sunday, the police received a tip-off that Zeeshan had been spotted in Loni and was planning another crime.
“Hundreds of police personnel were deployed at different locations. One team checking roads saw him on a bike with another man. When asked to stop, he tried to flee,” a police official said.
“After a few hundred metres, Zeeshan opened fire at the police personnel chasing him. In the cross-firing, a bullet hit Zeeshan and he fell on the road. His associate managed to escape, but we surrounded Zeeshan and rushed him to a nearby hospital, where he was declared dead on arrival. More than eight rounds were fired,” the official added.
Two head constables, Sachin and Nitin, were injured in the gunfight.
Zeeshan and his associate had arrived on a bike to Wastik’s office in Loni on Friday and asked children nearby to move away, according to the police. They then barged into the office, assaulted the YouTuber and stabbed him more than 10 times in the abdomen and near the throat before fleeing. Wastik (55) was taken to a private hospital and later referred to GTB Hospital in Delhi.
Based on a complaint by the YouTuber’s son, an FIR was registered against two unidentified assailants and five others under BNS sections 109(1) (attempt to murder) and 3(5) (common intention). Police said they were examining possible motives behind the attack, including personal enmity and ideological differences.
Wastik had gained popularity for questioning radicalism within Islam. He would also participate in online debates on the subject.
His son Usman said that he is still in the ICU and doctors are concerned about the throat injury.
