AMN / Patna
Gau Rakshak or the cow vigilantes have become active in Bihar since Nitish Kumar joined hand with NDA. On Thursday a group of cow vigilantes assaulted three Muslim men over suspicion of carrying beef in a truck in Bhojpur district.
The violent mob also blocked Ara-Buxar stretch of the National Highway 84, disrupting vehicular traffic for more than three hours, alleging beef was being smuggled to neighbouring West Bengal, police said. The group also demanded action against the Shahpur station house office (SHO) for his alleged failure to check “beef smuggling.”
Police said that the incident took place after the mob intercepted the truck carrying meat near a petrol pump on the NH-84 under Shahpur police station area, 29 km west of district headquarters Ara and 70 km west of Patna.
Locals claimed illegal slaughterhouses had been running in the area and they had information that beef was being smuggled from Ranisagar village near Buxar for the last many days.
Additional police force had to be deployed to bring the situation under control.
Normalcy returned to the area only after the Jagdishpur sub divisional police officer Dayashankar confiscated the meat-laden truck and arrested its driver Mohammad Sarfuddin Khan and two passengers Mohammad Ajmullah Khan and Mohammad Gulam Khan.
The arrested persons, who were from Rohtas district in south-west Bihar, were being interrogated to find out if the meat they were carrying was beef.
Bhojpur district magistrate Sanjiv Kumar said sample of the meat had been sent for test. Strict action would be taken against those running illegal slaughter houses in the area, the DM added.
Locals also alleged that police were also involved in running the “beef smuggling” racket.
Incidents of attacks animal traders and lynching of people by self-styled cow vigilante groups are generally found in the BJP-ruled states. Such attacks have triggered nationwide condemnation and outrage.
Even Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently condemned such acts, saying “killing people” in the name of “gau bhakti” is not acceptable. Despite his warning, incidents of violence in the name of cow, considered holy by Hindus, continue unabated. Fringe elements within Modi’s BJP and other right-wing organisations are often accused of carrying out these mob attacks.
Hindutva agenda begins in Bihar: CPI(M)
Reacting over the incident, CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury said that the attack on three persons on suspicion of transporting beef in Bihar is a “clear confirmation” of the BJP assuming power in the state, CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury told reporters in New Delhi.
“Now only Hindutva policies will be implemented while he (Nitish Kumar) continues to remain the chief minister,” the CPI (M) leader alleged.