New Delhi: A group of cow vigilantes allegedly beat a man to death and injured another in Maharashtra’s Nashik district on Saturday, June 24 for transporting what they suspected was beef.The deceased – identified as 32-year-old Afaan Abdul Majid Ansari – and Nasir Hussain Shaikh were transporting 450 kg of meat in a car when they were stopped and assaulted by a group of ten to 15 people on the evening of June 24, the Times of India reported.Local police arrested and registered a case against 11 people for murder, attempt to murder and rioting.“Ansari and Shaikh were carrying some meat. They were going towards Mumbai when they were stopped and attacked with iron rods and wooden sticks,” TOI quoted assistant inspector of Ghoti police station Shraddha Gandhari as saying.They were rushed to a nearby hospital by police but Ansari died while being treated for his injuries.Nashik Rural superintendent of police Shahaji Umap told TOI that Shaikh suspected the deadly attack followed a tip-off to the cow vigilantes by someone who noticed the meat in their car at a toll plaza.A similar incident took place in Nashik district on June 8 when cow vigilantes of the Rashtriya Bajrang Dal killed a man and injured two others on the suspicion that they were illegally transporting cattle.Both the June 8 and June 24 attacks occurred in the district’s Igatpuri area and involved unknown persons alerting vigilantes to the locations of Muslim men.A Maharashtra state law called the Animal Preservation (Amendment) Act, 1995 prohibits the transport or export of cows, bulls or bullocks for slaughter as well as buying and selling the meat of these animals.Nashik Rural deputy superintendent of police Sunil Bhamre said that police have sent the meat involved in Ansari and Shaikh’s case for a forensic examination to determine whether it belonged to these prohibited categories. “The meat will be tested to find out if it was buffalo meat or beef,” he told TOI.
