Nagpur: Salim Ismail was thrashed despite claiming to carry Mutton and not Beef

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NAGPUR: Yet again, the self-proclaimed Gau-Bhakts took law in their hands and in the name of Gau-Bhakti allegedly thrashed 31-year-old Salim Ismail Sheikh on the suspicion of carrying beef.

Sheikh, a resident of the districts Katol town, was returning home last evening on his bike when five to eight men apprehended him at a bus stop in Bharsingi village of Nagpur rural, and asked him to get off the two-wheeler.

The self-proclaimed Gau-Bhakts asked him to show the meat he was carrying in the dicky of his bike. Despite claiming that he was carrying mutton and not beef, they thrashed him brutally.

Sheikh suffered injuries on his face and neck in the attack. He was admitted to a hospital in Nagpur and discharged today, police sources said.

The police were able to establish the identity of the accused on the basis of the incidents purported video clip which went viral, an official said.

Two of the accused were arrested last night and as many others were taken into custody this morning, the SP said.

Those arrested have been identified as Ashwin Uike (35), Rameshwar Taywade (42), Moreshwar Tandurkar (36) and Jagdish Chaudhari (25), a police official said.

They have been booked under IPC sections 326 (voluntarily causing grievous hurt by dangerous weapons or means) and 34 (acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention), he said.

The section 326 of IPC attracts a maximum punishment of life imprisonment.

The meat has been seized and sent to a forensic lab in Nagpur for testing. The report is awaited.

The mob lynching is the latest addition to the growing list of actions by self-proclaimed gau rakshaks that prompted PM to condemn the attack.

“Killing people in the name of gau bhakti [respecting and worshipping the cow as a mother and goddess] is not acceptable. This is not something Mahatma Gandhi would approve of,” said Modi.