Relatives gather at the home of 50-year-old Muslim farmer Mohammad Ikhlaq after he was killed in Bisara, a village about 45 kilometers southeast of New Delhi on Wednesday, Sept. 30, 2015. (Image: AP)
Fifteen people, including two juveniles, were named in a chargesheet on Wednesday for their alleged role in the lynching of a Muslim man in UP’s Dadri, following rumours of cow slaughter.
A mob had lynched 55-year-old Mohammad Ikhlaq and seriously injured his son Danish on September 28 in the Uttar Pradesh village over rumours that they had slaughtered a cow.
Forensic tests later proved that the meat found in Mohammed Akhlaq’s fridge was mutton, not beef. Mohammad Akhlaq’s family had insisted all along that there was no beef in the house.
The mob was allegedly incited by a man called Vishal, the son of a local BJP leader, who was arrested two days after the incident.
Seven persons have been arrested in the past two days for their alleged involvement in the killing, an incident which had sparked nationwide outrage amidst allegations of rising intolerance.
“The chargesheet has been filed against 15 persons. An additional chargesheet will be filed against two more persons, who were arrested on Wednesday. Two persons are absconding and they will be arrested soon,” said Anurag Singh, deputy superintendent of police, Dadri, Greater Noida.
The lynching was also followed by a host of prominent historians, litterateurs, scientists and filmmakers returning different awards as a mark of protest against “growing intolerance” in the country which they say has become the hallmark of the BJP-led government.
The government had, however, termed the incident a law and order problem in a particular state and said the Centre had nothing to do with it.