Massive security has been deployed in a village in Dadri town after a 50-year-old man was beaten to death and his son injured severely by a mob following rumours that the family had slaughtered a cow.
After rumours spread in the village that a cow has been slaughtered on Monday night, around 200 people attacked the residence of one Iqlakh, police said on Wednesday.
The mob allegedly beat Iqlakh to death while his son Danish was critically injured in the attack and is undergoing treatment at a hospital, police said. The other story doing the rounds was that trouble started on rumours that the victim had consumed beef.
Giving details of the incident, Jaan Mohammad, a relative of the victim said, “An announcement was made from a local temple that a cow has been slaughtered, following which a large number of people attacked our family.”
As the rumours spread, villagers blocked a highway in Bisrakh area on Tuesday demanding death penalty for those involved in the slaughter.
When police tried to control the mob, clash took place in which one person identified as Rahul Yadav was shot at. Meanwhile, the UP Government has granted Rs10lakh ex-gratia to the family of the deceased.
The Government has also ordered to provide free treatment to the injured persons of his family who are availing treatment in a private hospital in Noida. According to the victim’s daughter, the mob stormed the house and assaulted her father and brother. “They harassed me and also beat up my grandmother,” she added. The attackers looked into the fridge for beef, but it was only goat’s meat which had been brought for Eid, another woman relative said, claiming that police had later confirmed it.
“Yes there was meat in our fridge, but it was not cow’s meat. It was goat’s meat. In one bowl was cooked meat and in another bowl it was uncooked,” she said. The family alleged that the attackers also looted jewellery.
An FIR has been filed against 10 people for attacking the family, six of whom were arrested, police said. PAC and additional police force from Ghaziabad, Bulandshahr and Hapur has been deployed in Bisrakh area to prevent any communal flare-up, Senior Superintendent of Police of Gautam Budh Nagar, Kiran S, said.
“Orders have been given to us to proceed to disperse the ex-gratia and free treatment for which work is being done.
“In the meantime, the investigation has been expedited to ascertain whether the cow was scarified or was it just a rumour,” said Kiran S.
Terming the incident as “painful”, Union Minister Mahesh Sharma, who is BJP MP from Noida, said it happened due to “misunderstanding” and dismissed allegations that it was an attempt to polarise the village ahead of panchayati polls there.
Former BJP MlA Nawab Singh Nagar said he had met the family and denied there was any “conspiracy”. “It is very sad when a person is killed in this way. The incident was not a conspiracy,” he said, adding that a sudden rush of blood could have precipitated the situation. Taking a strong note of the Dadri incident,
National Commission for Minorities (NCM) today sought a report from the district administration, after which it would take up the matter with Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav.