Man lynched after mob suspects family of storing beef in Dadri

Terming as “painful” the alleged killing of a man in Dadri town by a mob following rumours of his family’s involvement in cow slaughter, Union Minister Mahesh Sharma on Wednesday said the incident happened due to “misunderstanding” and trashed suggestions that it was done to polarise the village ahead of panchayat polls.

The victim’s family has said that there is no truth to these rumors.

Police said a case was registered against 10 people, of whom six have been arrested.

At least two other Indian states have adopted or tightened bans on the slaughter and consumption of beef since Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party won parliamentary elections previous year. It has come to our knowledge that the mob held a meeting in a temple in the middle of the village, where they made a decision to teach the deceased a lesson for slaughtering cows. His elder son Sartaz works with the Indian Air Force and is now posted in Chennai. My brother was dragged to the courtyard downstairs and they used bricks to hit him on the head and chest, leaving him unconscious.

The Samajwadi Party defended the action of authorities and said prompt steps have been taken to control the situation.

Ikhlaq’s daughter said the mob tried to attack both her and her mother, before they turned to the men. “Hundreds of people gathered in front of house on Monday night and started abusing us”, Asgari told TOI.

Former BJP MLA Nawab Singh Nagar said he had met the family and denied there was any “conspiracy”. The arrested have been identified as Rupinder, Vivek, Sree Om, Sandeep, Saurabh and Gaurav, all in their late 20s.

“We have formed peace committees to restore communal harmony in the area”, the DM said. The locals gave samples of meat to cops but they did not take it seriously. Then a few people got agitated. “Silence from top despite having great oratory is eloquent”, Congress spokesperson Abhishek Manu Singhvi said, adding it was shocking that such an incident is happening on the outskirts of Delhi.