Agra biryani shop murder: Self-styled 'gau rakshak' claims revenge for Pahalgam attack, but police call it fake

Hours after a 27-year-old restaurant worker named Gulfam Ali was shot dead and his colleague injured in Agra, a man claiming to be a ' gau rakshak' ( cow protector) posted a video online taking responsibility for the attack. He said it was revenge for the recent terror attack in Pahalgam, Kashmir, where 26 people lost their lives.

The man identified himself as Manoj Chaudhary, a member of the so-called Kshatriya Gau Raksha Dal.

In the video, which has been widely shared on social media, he appears with another armed man and says, “Two [slur] were killed in Taj city Agra. Kshatriya Gau Raksha Dal takes responsibility. I swear by Bharat Mata, if we don’t avenge the 26 deaths with 2,600, I am not her son.”

He is seen with pistols tucked into his jeans and knives on his belt, shouting a religious slogan at the end of the video.

Agra police, however, said the murder had nothing to do with the Pahalgam attack. They called the video a publicity stunt and said no such organisation called Kshatriya Gau Raksha Dal is active in the area.

Agra police commissioner Deepak Kumar told TOI, “The murder was the result of a quarrel over the quality of food a few days ago. The two men in the video are not Kshatriyas, and their claim of being cow protectors seems fake. CCTV footage from the crime scene shows four people. We’ve already arrested one suspect.”

Gulfam Ali worked as a waiter at Shahid Ali Chicken Biryani in Tajganj, which is owned by his cousin Shahid Ali. Around midnight, three men on a scooter arrived and shot him. He died on the spot. His colleague Saif Ali, 25, was also shot at but managed to avoid serious injury.

Police have filed an FIR under sections 103 (1) (murder) and 109 (attempt to murder) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS). The investigation is still ongoing.

Inputs from TOI