“We knew that it was cow’s meat and we are planning to lodge a complaint against Akhlaq’s family members for slaughtering a cow”.
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In September last year, 50-year-old Akhlaq was dragged out of his home and killed by a mob of at least 100 in Dadri district of Uttar Pradesh over rumours that he had stored beef.
The accused Vishal’s father Sanjay Rana told News18 that they will be filing a complaint in police station at 4 pm today against Akhlaq’s family for cow slaughter as well as consuming beef. He also pointed out that the meat sample had little bearing on the case. Incidentally, an earlier report prepared by another lab in the state had said that it was mutton. As you may recall, nothing objectionable was found in Akhlaq’s household or his fridge.
Akhilesh said Akhlaq was murdered and that has nothing to do with what was recovered from where.
Other parties in fray for UP 2017 may have to deal with this report more carefully – by defending everyone’s right to eat and live however they want, just as Yadav said on Wednesday, but sympathising with the emotions with which Hindu voters may be looking at this issue.
Akhlaq was beaten to death by a mob in Dadri’s Bisahda village on September 28 past year.
According to police, the meat was sent for testing only to establish the motive for Akhlaq’s killing.
Even if the meat was beef and was seized from his house, the fact remains that a man was murdered, and nothing justifies that. Many Muslims and Christians, as well as many lower-caste Hindus, traditionally consume buffalo meat as a cheap source of protein.
While Akhlaq succumbed to his injuries, his son somehow survived. Police and PAC were immediately deployed in the village to maintain law and order. “The meat which the lab report identifies as Cow meat was found in a drain far away from the home”.
The latest report created an uproar on social media, with reactions ranging from calling the report a false one and motivated by the upcoming UP elections, to calling the media out for not investigating the case properly.
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The new report is sure to rake up once again the politics of beef that gripped the nation a year ago.
