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Murder in the mosque

A Ganesh Nadar in Palayamkottai, Tamil Nadu

Saturday, December 9, had been like any other day. The evening namaaz had just concluded. The faithful had all gone home.

The hafiz, an 18-year-old young man who knew the Quran by heart and hence led the prayers, normally locked up the mosque before leaving. But, not that day.

For some guests had put up at the mosque.

Despite it being the holy month of Ramzan, the faithful did not add up to much.

Hence, members of the Tableeq-e-Jamaat had volunteered to canvass among the people and organise the Ramzan prayers. The Jamaat was based in Puliyangudi, about 40 km away.

The Jamaat had to its credit an Islamic conference in Bombay, organised during the Shiv Sena government's tenure. They had done a very good job, said Kaseem Meeran, president of the local Jamaat.

The Jamaat members, all nine of them, stayed at the mosque.

Seven of them had already dropped off to sleep. One was cutting vegetables while another was washing vessels.

They had to cook the food that the group would eat at 3 am before they began their day-long fast.

The hafiz bade good-bye to the guests and prepared to leave. It was 11 pm.

Suddenly, the still of the night was shattered by an explosion. A bomb went off inside the mosque compound, blowing a small hole in the wall.

Smoke was thick in the air. Through the smoke, the hafiz saw two figures armed with swords and knives jumping over the wall.

He ran into the mosque, followed by the man who was washing vessels.

The one who was inside was sitting on the floor, cutting onions. A heavy-built man, he was caught unawares. The assailants stabbed him in the back, puncturing his liver. They left as they had come -- melting into the darkness.

The hafiz rushed out and headed for the house opposite the mosque where Meeran stayed.

An old man, Kasim Meeran, was preparing for bed when he heard the explosion. His grandson said, "Thaatha (grandpa), today is Karthigai (birthday of Lord Kartikeya). Somebody must be bursting crackers."

Kasim then heard some shouts from the mosque. He called up his deputy who stayed in the neighbouring house, and both ran towards the mosque accompanied by Kasim's son where they came across a man lying in a pool of blood.

The deputy called the police who arrived within ten minutes and rushed the injured man to the Tirunelveli medical college hospital in their jeep. However, he died on the way.

Saturday, December 9, had been like any other day...

The evening prayers, led by the hafiz, had begun at 8.30 pm and ended at 9.45 pm. The leader of the Jamaat -- referred to as the amir -- then preached for about half an hour, after which the group dispersed around 10.30 pm.

The locals, numbering about six or seven then left for their homes.

Then came the explosion followed by the stabbing.

The police, it must be said, acted faster than they normally do. The inspector later said the assistant commissioner's presence in the vicinity may have something to do with it.

They examined the minor devastation made by the bomb, and searched the surrounding areas, but to no avail. Footprints near the mosque boundary wall were also examined. Two police dogs were pressed into service, but they gave up after sniffing around a bit.

Tyre marks of an auto-rickshaw were visible at the spot, but nothing beyond that.

Top officials, including the superintendent of police, district commissioner and even the deputy inspector general (Madurai), visited the mosque on Sunday morning.

Meeran said the area had never seen communal tension or violence of any kind before. The mosque had been built only six years ago and the Muslim population in the area was minuscule.

But there had been incidents recently. A few months back, huts belonging to the Christian community had been burnt down in the night. The scared occupants had refused to complain to the police and instead blamed a faulty electric line. This, in spite, of the fact that remnants of a petrol bomb were found in the area.

In another incident, petrol bombs had been hurled into a church. The Church of South India church in Tirunelveli is divided into two factions, and one faction complained to the police. An FIR had been registered, but nothing beyond that.

The inspector, hiding behind statistics, said, "In arson cases only one in a thousand is caught."

After speaking to the president of the local Jamaat, the hafiz was the next. The verandah of the mosque was testimony to its financial condition: on it were placed plates, glasses and bowls -- made of aluminium or plastic, and not stainless steel.

The hafiz, Mohammad Mohideen, is in his fourth year of Islamic studies. He recalls the explosion, and the smoke. "The intruders were armed so I ran into the mosque and fell down." He only came out with the others who had been awakened by the commotion.

The Jamaat president believes the assailants were trained killers, since they knew where to stab in order to kill and they did a clean job. However, he has no idea why the killers had come. "Only god knows," he said.

The next day the body was taken to Puliyangudi, accompanied by the man who had been washing vessels when the incident occurred. Three days later the seven-member Jamaat group moved on to the next mosque in neighbouring Rahmaath Nagar.

None of them attended the funeral, and chose to carry on as if nothing had happened. One of the policemen recalled, with surprise, that the group was found performing their sehri before sun-up, appearing normal. "One of them had blood all over his shirt and he was biting into a chicken while we, the hardened policemen, couldn't eat till the post-mortem was done."

The police, of course, has been out in force, and Inspector Chitaranjan claimed he would arrest the culprits in two days, changing it to a week when questioned on the hows. Naturally, the details could be only had at the Palayamkottai police station.

Part II:'Even if they saw anything they will not open their mouths'

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