Cow vigilantism in Nagpur: Man beaten up on suspicion of carrying beef in Nagpur, 4 held

NEW DELHI: In yet another incident of violence by self proclaimed cow vigilantes, a person was brutally thrashed by group of men for allegedly carrying beef. The man, Salim Ismail Shah was surrounded by mob near Barsingi village bus stop and punches, kicks were blown on him in broad daylight. While Police has arrested four accused in the case, the meat has been sent to the laboratory for testing. Salim who claims to be a BJP worker, was dragged, pulled by hair by group of four-five men. One of the accused also threw the scooter on him after which Salim was left unconscious.  No one came to his rescue while onlookers filmed the assault. Salim claims to be working with BJP for over 12 years. Salim's wife, Zarin Ismail refuting  the allegations says that they don't trade in beef and her husband was carrying mutton for a function organised by Masjid committee. Meanwhile, Maharashtra Animal Preservation (Amendment) Act, 2015 puts complete ban on beef trade. In spite of PM Narendra Modi's repeated warnings to self-styled cow vigilantes, there has been no decline in the number of incidents. Last month, in Ramgarh district of Jharkhand, man was lynched by mob for the same reason. The Shiv Sena, a ruling coalition partner in Maharashtra, as well as the opposition Congress and the NCP have condemned the incident. The BJP, on the other hand, sought to play it down, calling it a stray incident. "Lynchings of people over suspicion of carrying beef started in UP and it has now spilled over to our progressive state. To make the matters worse, this has happened in the RSS heartland. If this continues, there will be a chaos in the country," Sena spokesperson Manisha Kayande said. "How can it be that the prime pinister warns gau-rakshaks, but (still) they ignore him? We think there is an ulterior motive behind this. An attempt is being made to shift the focus away from the Modi government's failure to retaliate strongly against the terrorists who killed Amarnath pilgrims," she said. (With PTI inputs)