Assam man beaten up, ‘forced to eat pork’ for selling beef

Guwahati: A day after two videos of a man in Biswanath assaulted and forced to eat pork for possession of beef went viral, Assam Police on Tuesday said the prime accused has been arrested.
On Sunday, 68-year-old Shaukat Ali was beaten up by a mob at Biswanath Chariali. “A few men walked into my food outlet, asking if I was serving beef. I said yes. A few hours later, a few more youths stormed my outlet and started breaking the furniture. Then, they started beating me up. I was stopped from offering namaz and forced to eat pork,” said Ali, who is undergoing treatment at the Biswanath Civil Hospital. The mob also beat up the mahaldar, or lessee of the market, Kamal Thapa for allowing Ali to sell beef. Police said they are yet to confirm the account.

There is no ban on sale or consumption of beef in the state. The Assam Cattle Preservation Act, 1950, only bans slaughter of cattle below 14 years of age.

Ali has been in the food business at Madhupur weekly market for the past 40 years. In the videos, that went viral, the mob can also be heard asking Ali to declare his nationality, if he is Bangladeshi and if his name appears in the National Register of Citizens (NRC), which is being updated in the state.

On Monday evening, police registered an FIR on the basis of a complaint by Ali’s brother. “We have arrested the prime accused, identified as Dipen Gogoi from Biswanath. Search is on to nab the other accused,” SP (Biswanath) Rakesh Raushan said, adding that the culprits, identified from the videos, are local youths and not affiliated to any group.

“We have increased police vigilance in the district and the entire state. We are also trying to locate the people who were responsible for uploading the video on social media,” Assam DGP Kuladhar Saikia told TOI, adding that chief minister Sarbananda Sonowal has asked him to take strong action and prevent recurrence of such incidents.

As the video went viral, All India Majlis-E-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) chief Asaduddin Owaisi shot a ‘reminder’ tweet to chief minister Sarbananda Sonowal: “Not that one needs to say this, but reminding @sarbanandsonwal that he’s taken an oath on something called the Constitution of India. He’s obliged to protect the lives of everyone who lives in Assam.”

He added, “I know many people who feel they’re desensitized because of the number of lynching in the last 5 years. I am not, each video infuriates me & saddens me It’s irrelevant that beef is legal in Assam, lynching an innocent old man is illegal in every part of India.”