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Union Minister Mahesh Sharma on Thursday said the brutal killing of 50-year-old Mohammad Akhlaq in Dadri by a mob for 'suspected' storing and consuming beef "should be considered an accident and no communal colour should be added to it."
The culture minister's remarks follow his statement on Wednesday, that the incident happened due to "misunderstanding", and trashed suggestions that it was done to polarise the village ahead of panchayat polls.
"Two other families live with the affected family in the middle of the village and their walls adjoin with others. About 10-12 houses of other community are in the outlying part of the village but no incident concerning them has happened," Sharma said.
"I feel this incident occurred due to some misunderstanding and the law should truthfully act against whoever is responsible for it," he said.
Akhlaq was beaten to death and his 22-year-old son Danish son was critically injured by a mob which barged into their house following rumours that the family had consumed beef, on Monday night.
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Bereaved family considers leaving village
Akhlaq's other son, Sartaj, who serves in the Indian Air Force, demanded punishment for the murderers of his father.
"Those arrested murdered my father. I want to know the reason for which they did this to him. They should be punished so that none from the village would dare to such deed in future," he said.
Expressing apprehension over danger to the life of his remaining family members, Sartaj said that he is planning to move out of the village as the incident could repeat again.
"Our lives are in danger. I'm planning to move from here. We will move from here because this can happen again anytime. Who will ensure us that this won't happen again?" he asked.
Sartaj denied any knowledge about any tension, saying that he had talked to his "ailing" father about half an hour before the incident and everything was "fine".
"As far as I know, there wasn't any tension. Everything was normal. I spoke to my father an hour before the incident and asked about his well being, he was suffering from typhoid and his BP was below normal. Rest everything was fine till then. 25 minutes after the incident I came to know my father was beaten to death. He was dragged outside the house, obviously neighbours were involved," he said.
The incident drew sharp condemnation from political parties. A magisterial inquiry has been ordered and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav has announced an ex-gratia of Rs 10 lakh for the family of the victim.