BAREILLY: A 37-year-old man from Moradabad in UP was mercilessly beaten by cow vigilantes of a right-wing outfit for allegedly slaughtering a cow. The incident was reported from Moradabad’s Majhola around 3.30am on Monday and the victim, Shahedeen Qureshi, died at a hospital a few hours later.
A purported video of the horrific attack was circulated online – mostly by the vigilantes – on Tuesday.In the clip, a few men belonging to a right-wing group could be seen kicking, punching and hitting a man with blunt objects, with the victim lying on the ground with visible injuries on the body, gasping for breath. A carcass of a stray cow could be seen next to him, but it is unclear whether he had killed that animal.
SP (Moradabad city) Ran Vijay Singh said, “Locals came to know of a bovine being slaughtered, and caught one person while his accomplices fled. The mob thrashed the man after finding the carcass. The man died during treatment. We have received a complaint from his brother and have registered an FIR against unidentified persons under section of murder. The accused will be identified and arrested soon.”
Shahedeen’s brother Shahjad, who runs a meat shop, said, “My brother was a bodybuilder and used to work in a factory. He had nothing to do with meat trade and never had any FIR against him in the past. A year ago, he fell ill due to wrong supplements and spent almost six months in a hospital as his lungs became weak. He lost his job at that time…. My brother would never do such a thing. Others could’ve been involved and he paid the price for it.”
Qureshi’s wife, Rizwana, added, “My husband was sleeping at our home when his friends took him along around midnight on Sunday. A few hours later, we came to know that he was lynched by a mob. Despite videos clearly showing the culprits mercilessly assaulting my husband, police lodged a case mentioning ‘unidentified persons’ in the FIR.”
Rashtriya Bajrang Dal functionary Rohan Saxena, meanwhile, said, “We came to know from local shopkeepers, who are also members of our group, that a man had slaughtered a cow. He was caught by us – red-handed – with the animal’s remains and was later handed over to the police. A complaint was lodged against those responsible for slaughtering the cow, and cops have assured us of strict action.”
Qureshi, who lived in Asalatpur locality, is survived by wife Rizwana and three sons – Aaram (13), Aashi (11) and Ibjaan (9). His body was sent for postmortem on Monday night and the burial was completed by Tuesday morning.
