2 MP tribals lynched for alleged cow slaughter

SEONI: A mob of 15-20 people lynched two tribal men on suspicion of cow slaughter and another man was gravely wounded in Simaria village of Madhya Pradesh’s Seoni district around 3am on Tuesday, triggering a political storm in the state as opposition parties alleged that Bajrang Dal and BJP members were involved in the crime.
Sources said the mob accused Dhansa, 54, and Sampat Batti, 60, of killing a cow and smuggling the meat in Simaria under Kurai police station and beat them to death, sources said. A third tribal man, identified as Brijesh, was roughed up when he came out of his house near the crime site and tried to intervene.

He was admitted to hospital, police said, and three of 20 suspects were rounded up so far.
Additional SP S K Maravi said an autopsy will be done before the bodies are given to relatives. “A murder case was registered at Kuarai police station and cops are looking for the accused. About 12kg meat was found in the house of the deceased.” It was not immediately known if it was beef or some other animal meat.
Congress and CPM alleged that the men were lynched by Bajrang Dal and BJP members and demanded immediate arrest of the culprits. State Congress chief Kamal Nath has constituted a three-member probe panel and sent them to the village.
A group led by Congress legislator Arjun Singh Kakodia staged a protest on the Jabalpur-Nagpur highway. Kakodia demanded a ban on Bajrang Dal and ex gratia of Rs 1 crore to the families of each victim, plus government jobs to their kin.
Cow slaughter is banned in the state and there have been instances of vigilante groups taking the law in their hands.