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A migrant worker from West Bengal was allegedly beaten to death in Haryana's Charkhi Dadri district over suspicion that he had eaten beef, police said on Saturday, adding they have arrested five members of a cow vigilante group for the attack.
Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini dubbed the August 27 incident 'unfortunate' but said it is 'not right to say things like mob lynching'.
A senior police officer said the accused attacked Sabir Malik, who wad in his mid-20s, on the suspicion that he consumed beef.
Police identified the five accused as Abhishek, Mohit, Ravinder, Kamaljit and Sahil.
When asked about the incident, Chief Minister Saini told a press conference in Chandigarh, "It is not right to say things like mob lynching. We have enacted a strict law in the state assembly for the protection of cows and there is no compromise on it."
"Gaon ke andar itni sharddha gau mata ke prati hai ki unko agar pata chal jaye ki iss parkar ke yeh halaat kar rahe hain to gaon ke log hain, kaun rokta hai ke phir uske andar kya hua, kya nahi hua. (In villages, the cow is revered so much, and if they (villagers) come to know that they are creating such a situation, then who can prevent what happens there). But, I want to say that such incidents should not take place. These things are unfortunate," he said.
The senior police officer quoted above said that on the day of the incident the accused allegedly called Malik to a shop under the pretence of selling empty plastic bottles and thrashed him there, according to the police officer said.
After some people intervened, the accused took Malik to another location and beat him again, leading to his death, the officer added.
Malik lived in a shanty near Bandhra village in Charkhi Dadri district and collected waste and rag for a living, the police said.
All the five accused have been arrested, they said, adding that two juveniles have also been apprehended in the matter.
A case under relevant provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) has been registered against the accused, the police said.
Police have sent food sample testing in a lab in Faridabad, the officer said.
Elderly man assaulted inside train in Maharashtra
An elderly man was allegedly assaulted by his co-passengers in an express train near Igatpuri in Maharashtra's Nashik district on suspicion that he was carrying beef, the Government Railway Police (GRP) said on Saturday.
The GRP has initiated a probe after a video of the alleged incident, which took place earlier this week, surfaced on social media, an official said.
The video shows a dozen people assaulting a man and verbally abusing him inside a train.
According to the GRP, the victim, Haji Ashraf Munyar, a resident of Jalgaon district, was travelling to his daughter's house in Kalyan when he was allegedly beaten up by his co-passengers near Igatpuri on suspicion that he was carrying beef.
"We have taken cognisance of the video and identified the victim. Some of the people involved in the attack have also been identified, and a probe is on," the official said, adding that no case has been registered so far.