Communal tension prevailed after two men were intercepted and beaten up brutally by a mob for carrying meat through an area where there is a ban on meat products in Mathura.
The local police rushed to the spot to rescue the victims and shifted them to a hospital. Later both the victims and another person were arrested and a case was registered against them.
Additional police force was deployed in the area to avert any untoward incident.
The victims were later on identified as Ayub and Mausim.
The tension only flared up after a video clip of activists of a right-wing outfit attacking the men went live on Facebook and asked viewers to share the video. The men were kicked and slapped repeatedly by the mob of about 15 people.
As per reports, Ayub (40) runs a licensed meat shop at Raya locality of Mathura and was taking meat to his shop accompanied by Mausim (23) in a vehicle driven by Bahadur on Wednesday. In the meantime, members of Gau Raksha Dal were tipped off that the trio were carrying beef from Agra to Mathura, despite there being a ban on the sale of meat in the religious town.
Subsequently, a team of Gau Raksha Dal tailed the vehicle carrying meat from Yamuna Expressway exit and stopped them at Mahavir Colony. There the agitated Gau Rakshak Dal activists assaulted them. After the police rushed to the place on being intimated, the angry mob handed over the injured to the police. Later the injured were taken to a hospital for treatment.
The police seized about 160 kg of meat from the vehicle and samples were sent for testing.
Later a case was registered against Ayub, Mausim and Bahadur and they were arrested under sections 295 (injuring or defiling place of worship) and 429 (mischief by killing or maiming cattle) of the Indian Penal Code and under Prevention of Cow Slaughter Act. The accused have been sent to judicial custody.
The police said that the accused did not have a transit permit or a refrigerator for transporting perishables, both of which are mandatory.