The father of one of the two accused arrested recently in an ATM guard’s murder in Jammu Sunday said that there was no evidence that his son and another youth were involved in the killing.
Bashir Ahmad Lone, the father of Waqas Bashir Lone, one of the accused in the murder case, in an emotional appeal requested Police to investigate the case “fairly” and avoid making mistakes in “haste” that would jeopardise his son’s career.
“My son is an athlete and a gold-medal winner in kickboxing. The administration is well aware of his talent. He is doing an MCA in Srinagar and has a successful career ahead,” Lone said.
He accused the Police of providing no evidence that could prove that his son and another youth had killed the ATM guard.
“If there is any evidence that proves my son murdered the ATM guard, I will fall at the feet of the guard’s family in Jammu, apologise to them and publicly announce that my son is a murderer,” Lone said.
Lone said that his son was attending to his ailing uncle, who has a brain tumor and had returned from Delhi’s Apollo hospital after at least three months and was staying at the accommodation in Jammu near the ATM for nearly a month now.
“How can he go for murdering someone when he is attending a patient,” he said. “Even the local Police is aware of this fact.”
Lone said that the family had talked with him over the phone and he had even informed them that a murder had occurred outside in the locality.
“I advised him to stay inside,” he said.
Lone said that there was footage from the outside street of ATM wherefrom the duo would pass frequently as they lived nearby.
However, he said there was no footage from inside the ATM that would prove or convince anyone that they have done this crime.
“Just show me a single clip that my son went inside and executed the murder,” Lone said. “I can feel what the family of the ATM guard including his wife and small children must be going through at this time. Like my son, they also had a son who they loved unconditionally.”
He said his 20-year-old son’s life and career were at stake for someone else’s doing.
Lone said that Police had stated that they had recovered a driving license near the guard’s body but that was not being investigated.
Stranded at his home due to snowfall, Lone said that he was planning to visit Jammu but was stuck at home in Ashtangoo, Bandipora due to inclement weather.
Police in a news conference on Friday said the victim, Raju Sharma, son of Gullu Ram of New Plot, Jammu, was found dead inside the guard chamber of the bank’s ATM at Sector 13 in Nanak Nagar at around 10 pm on Thursday.
SSP Jammu Shridhar Patil said that the murder was executed by two youth who he identified as Muhammad Kaif Lone and Waqas Bashir Lone, both residents of Bandipora.