Four held in U.P. after row over alleged illegal cow slaughter

The incident came to light after a video of a driver being thrashed by locals went viral

Four persons have been arrested and two first information reports (FIRs) lodged in connection with the row over alleged illegal cow slaughter and ferrying of cattle in a Mathura village on Sunday night, police said. The incident came to light after a video of a Muslim driver being thrashed by locals went viral.

Martand Prakash Singh, Superintendent of Police (City), Mathura, said prima facie no evidence of bovine was found in the pick-up van and that the injuries to the victim and two others were not serious. However, Mr. Singh said, had the police not reached on time, the victim could have been lynched. “There were hundreds of people on the streets,” he said.

“The initial investigation revealed that the van belonged to one Rameshwar Valmiki of Goverdhan town who had the Gram Panchayat licence to dispose of the dead animals. The van was taking animal carcasses from Goverdhan town in Mathura to Sikandrarau in Hathras when it was stopped in Raal village of Mathura. We have taken custody of the carcasses and have sent samples to the lab,” he said.

In the FIR lodged by Aamir, the victim said the vehicle was intercepted by cow vigilantes Vikas Sharma and Balram Thakur outside Raal village. “When I told them that we are carrying carcasses to dispose of them, they started beating us. Soon villagers also joined them and overturned the vehicle. My two associates ran away but I got caught and was mercilessly thrashed.” Apart from Vikas and Balram, Aamir has named 14 other persons in the FIR.

The second FIR has been lodged by Vikas where he has identified himself as a member of the cow protection unit of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad and Balram as the secretary of the All India Cow Protection Committee. “We along with two other associates were returning from a religious ceremony in Goverdhan, when we experienced a foul smell emanating from a vehicle. We could also see heads of cattle protruding out from the vehicle. “We followed the vehicle and stopped it at Raal. Meanwhile, villagers emerged on the scene and started beating us as they suspected us to be part of the cattle smuggling gang.” Vikas has named 14 persons and 120-150 unnamed persons have been mentioned.

Though serious Sections of the IPC, including 147, 148, 427, 336, 504, 506, and Section 7 of the Criminal Amendment Act have been invoked in both the FIRs, Section 307 (attempt to murder) has been invoked only in the FIR lodged on the complaint of Aamir. “For now, we have arrested four villagers but as the investigation will progress more persons will be arrested, including the vigilantes,” said Mr. Singh.