Mumbai — Indian Police announced on Monday that eleven members of a cow vigilante group were detained in Nashik, Maharashtra, for reportedly using iron rods and a stick to beat a 31-year-old man to death because he was thought to be transporting beef.
Afaan Abdul Majid Ansari, a resident of Mumbai neighbourhood of Kurla, was one of the two car occupants who was beaten up by the cow vigilantes; the other suffered injuries but was said to be in stable condition.
According to police, a gang of roughly 15 people stopped an automobile on its way from Ahmednagar to Mumbai on Saturday after getting a tip that there was meat in the car from a toll plaza employee. Two passengers in the automobile were beaten up by the vigilante group. Afaan Abdul Majid Ansari, a resident of Mumbai’s Kurla neighbourhood, was one of the two who was injured; Nasir Hussain Shaikh also suffered injuries. According to reports, Shaikh’s status is stable.
The two were attacked about 25 miles from the scene of another mob attack on June 10 that claimed the life of Lukman Ansari, 25, who was moving cattle. Six Rashtriya Bajrang Dal members were detained in connection with the murder of Lukman Ansari, whose body was discovered in a canyon.
The 11 people detained in Nasik, according to police superintendent Shahaji Umap, claim to be cow guardians. They face murder-related charges. Today [Monday], the accused will be brought before the court. They were performing this kind of act for the first time. The individuals detained in the most recent lynching instance, according to Umap, have no connection to the Rashtriya Bajrang Dal.
“The gau rakshak group [of Nashik] formed WhatsApp groups. They acted anytime they received information that meat was being delivered. A gau rakshak was alerted to the car’s blood stains by the toll booth staff,” Umap stated.
Police claimed to have confiscated 450 kg of meat, adding that only a forensic analysis would reveal whether it was buffalo or beef.
