The murder of Iqlakh in the Dadri area of Greater Noida on Monday night after sudden rumours that the family had slaughtered a cow and had beef appears to have been a well-planned attack aimed at spreading panic and creating a sharp divide among communities ahead of the panchayat polls in the state. Chief Minister Akhilseh Yadav has also instructed the District Magistrate and Senior Superintendent of Police, Noida to provide full protection to the family of the victim.
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UP CM Akhilesh Yadav has announced an ex-gratia compensation of Rs 10 lakh to the family of the victim.
Indian police said Wednesday they had arrested six people after a 50-year-old Muslim man was beaten to death over rumours he had eaten beef. They also tried to molest me and hit my grandmother on her face. It was goat’s meet. “In one bowl was cooked meat and in another bowl it was uncooked”, she said.The family alleged that the attackers also looted jewellery.
As the rumours spread, villagers blocked a highway in Bisrakh area demanding death penalty for those involved in the slaughter.
Nawab Singh Nagar, a former BJP MLA from Dadri, said, “If cow slaughter and its consumption is proven, they (the victim and his family) are definitely at fault”. “But the love and harmony we have for each other disappeared within seconds”, said Rajpal Singh. “I believe this incident took place due to a few misunderstandings and should not be given a political colour”, Sharma told ANI here.
According to the report, Virpura village-resident Govind Chaudhary set up the Sena in June and has held meetings where groups comprising youths between 16 and 20 years of age would listen to “issues that had never bothered them before – like cow slaughter and the “declining” population of Hindus”. “It’s a painful incident”. Police have taken the samples of the meat for testing.
Police said although they were investigating after registering a case against 10 people but the protest continued, they had to use force to disperse the mob for which it called reinforcements from neighbouring police stations to maintain peace.
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A few Muslim families have already fled the village while the rest fear a rerun of the September 2013 riots in Muzaffarnagar in which 50,000 people were displaced and over 60 killed after an altercation had snowballed into full-blown violence.
