Nashik: A 32-year-old Muslim man was beaten to death and his co-traveller was brutally assaulted by Hindu right-wing men near Igatpuri in Maharashtra’s Nashik district over suspicion that they were transporting beef.
The two victims have been identified as Afaan Abdul Majid Ansari and Nasir Sheikh.
According to Ansari’s family, they believe that the attackers were associated with cow vigilante groups as well as the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and the Bajrang Dal.
“The attackers, consisting of approximately 26 individuals with right-wing affiliations, violently assaulted them inside the car, restraining their hands and subjecting them to a continuous and brutal beating lasting for three hours. Ansari lost his life in the immediate aftermath. Upon examining their vehicle, we found no evidence of cow meat present,” Ansari’s uncle Mohd Asghar told local media.
The incident took place at around 5.30 pm on Saturday near Gambhirwadi on Ghoti-Sinnar Road in the Igatpuri area of Nashik, located more than 150 km from Mumbai, an official told PTI.
Around 15 people then attacked the two with iron rods and sticks, causing serious injuries, the police said.
Based on Sheikh’s complaint, the Ghoti police have arrested 11 people and a case has been registered on charges of murder.
This is the second incident in Nashik in nearly two weeks of the killing of a person by cow vigilantes. On June 8, three men transporting cattle on a tempo were attacked by a group of cow vigilantes. The body of one of them was recovered from a gorge at Ghatandevi in the Igatpuri area on June 10.
