One person was beaten to death while another injured by the mob in Rajasthan’s Chittorgarh on Monday over allegations of cows smuggling.
The man who died was from Madhya Pradesh’s Achalpur and another man who were in a vehicle when a large crowd forced it to stop, pulled the men out and assaulted them.
The deceased man was identified as Babu Bhil (25) while another man named Pintu Bhil is under treatment.
The police said that there are 7-8 persons have been detained in connection with the case.
The police also said Babu and Pintu were smuggling some bovine animals to Madhya Pradesh when the accused caught them and thrashed during the intervening night of June 13-14. The attack took place near a town called Begu and the police have detained some people.
Additional Director General, Ravi Meherda said a case of murder has been registered and stern action will be taken against the culprits in the case. While Inspector General of Police, Udaipur range has already been reached to Chittorgarh.
Satyavir Singh, Inspector-General (Udaipur Range), said around midnight the police station in-charge was informed that a gang was beating some people. Following which the police officials reached the spot where the police have found people from the nearby Raiti village and surrounding areas were attacking two men – Babu and Pintu.
Singh said that the attackers had snatched away the men’s documents and mobile phones. When the police arrived they ran away later the police officials rescued both men and took them to a hospital, where Babu lost his life. Pintu is now in stable condition.
IG Singh said the cops had visited the scene of the attack to conduct further investigations.
There have been several incidents of cow vigilantism in India in the past. Last week, a 55-year-old man was shot and killed in Uttar Pradesh over the suspicions of cow smuggling.
A Human Rights Watch (HRW) report published in 2019 stated at least 44 people, 36 of them Muslims, were killed in cow vigilantism attacks in India between May 2015 and December 2018.