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The brother of the main accused in the chilling murder of a neighbour's two children in Budaun was arrested after he surrendered at a police post in Bareilly, police said on Thursday.
The postmortem report of the slain children has revealed that the assailant stabbed the elder brother 13 times and his sibling 11 times, officials said, adding injury marks have been found on the neck, chest and other parts of bodies of the two children.
Javed, who had been absconding since the murders in Baba Colony on Tuesday, surrendered at Satellite police outpost of Baradari police station in neighbouring Bareilly district, Budaun Senior Superintendent of Police Alok Priyadarshi said.
According to the SSP, during interrogation, Javed told the police that on the day of the incident, he was with his brother Sajid, the main accused who was gunned down in an encounter.
After the incident, both had fled together, the SSP said, adding that Javed first ran away to his in-laws' house and from there to Delhi, where his acquaintances told him that the police were searching for him, so he should surrender.
Instead of going to Budaun, he went to Bareilly and surrendered, the officer said.
Javed also told police that Sajid had bought a knife with which he committed the crime and that Sajid was short tempered and used to get angry quickly, for which the family members had got him treated, he said.
On the day of the incident, Sajid was very upset since morning, so Javed had told him to close the shop and go home but Sajid did not agree, the SSP said, adding that according to Javed, Sajid used to spend lots of time visiting dargahs and maulvis.
One such maulvi has also been identified who is being interrogated, police said.
SSP Priyadarshi said that there are many questions in this case on which the police investigations are on.
Accused Javed was to be produced in the court but it could not be done because the papers were not complete, and now he will be presented in the court on Friday, the SSP said.
Earlier, a video clip that surfaced online purportedly showed Javed pleading with a group of people confronting him to take him to the police.
In the video, Javed says that he fled to Delhi after the incident and returned to Bareilly to surrender before the police. The video was apparently shot at an autorickshaw stand close to the police post.
"I have nothing to do with the incident. He (Sajid) was my elder brother. He did that but I have nothing to do with the incident," Javed is heard saying in the video.
Bareilly SSP Dhule Sushil Chandrabhan told PTI that the district police handed over Javed to the Budaun police after completing formalities.
The Budaun police have taken Javed to places associated with the crime.
Sajid, who had recently opened a barber shop in the locality, entered the house of the family known to him on Tuesday and allegedly attacked Ayush (12), Ahaan alias Honey (8) and Yuvraj (10) with a knife. Ayush and Ahaan died on the spot, while Yuvraj was admitted to the hospital.
Hours after the double murder, Sajid was gunned down in an encounter with the police.
The police have registered a case against both Sajid and Javed under Section 302 (murder) of the Indian Penal Code.
The Budaun district administration has also ordered a magisterial inquiry into Sajid's police encounter.
"The report on the encounter has to be submitted in 15 days," Budaun District Magistrate Manoj Kumar said.
On Wednesday evening, the police had announced a reward of Rs 25,000 for Javed's arrest.
Meanwhile, the children's father, Vinod Kumar, praised the police for Javed's arrest and sought stringent punishment to him.
"He should be asked who were involved with him because this incident is not of a single person," Kumar told PTI videos.
"He is equally involved in the crime. They can cut anyone's neck. Strictest action should be taken against him. He must be encountered or given capital punishment," he said.
The father also asked for police security for his family.
Kumar's wife Sangeeta told reporters that she wants police to interrogate Javed before her so that she could know "why my sons were killed".
As per the FIR, Sajid and his brother Javed reached the house of Vinod Kumar at around 7 pm.
Sajid told Sangeeta that he needed Rs 5,000 to pay the hospital for the delivery of his wife. When Sangeeta went inside to get the money, Sajid went to the rooftop of the house. Moments later, Javed also reached the rooftop and they called Ayush and Ahaan, according to the FIR.
The accused attacked the minors with a sharp knife. When they came downstairs, Sangeeta saw that their clothes were drenched in blood.
The mother of the accused, Nazrin, however, told reporters on Wednesday that Sajid's wife is not pregnant.
"Sajid's wife is not pregnant and is not in hospital. I don't know why he made up the story and asked for money," she said.
With the general elections round the corner, the Budaun incident has triggered a war of words between the SP and the ruling BJP.
A delegation of Samajwadi Party leaders, including Aditya Yadav, met with the boys' family members on Thursday.
Aditya Yadav, who is son of Shivpal Singh Yadav, said, "Samajwadi Party is standing with the family members in these tough times. We all must ensure that the family gets justice."
Shivpal Yadav is the SP's candidate from the Budaun seat in the Lok Sabha elections.
BJP MP from Budaun, Sanghamitra Maurya, had visited the victims' house on the previous day and assured them her full support. "I condemn the murder of the two minor boys," she had said.
Referring to SP leaders' remarks on the incident, Maurya said this was not the time to do politics.
"Samajwadi Party is doing politics on the issue because its so-called fort of Budaun was demolished by people here in 2019. The SP candidate must have seen that there was no one asking about him in Budaun today. This is why they are doing politics on the issue," Maurya said.