Eleven people were arrested on Sunday for allegedly beating a 32-year-old man to death and brutally assaulting his co-traveller near Igatpuri in Maharashtra’s Nashik district over suspicion that they were transporting beef.
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.
The two victims – identified as Afaan Abdul Majid Ansari and Nasir Sheikh – were transporting meat from Ahmednagar to Mumbai. While they were on the Sinnar Ghoti Highway, their car was stopped by a group of people for inspection.
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Around 15 people then attacked the two with iron rods and sticks, causing serious injuries, the police said.
“An employee of a toll plaza near Sinnar initially noticed that the two were carrying meat inside their car. The employee then informed a member of the cow vigilante group there who then forwarded the information to his accomplice in Ghoti,” Superintendent of Police Shahji Umap (Nashik Rural) said, The Indian Express reported.
The ailing bodies of the two victims were found inside their vehicle, said the police. “As soon as we were informed, a team was sent to the spot and the two were rushed to the hospital. Ansari was declared dead during treatment while Sheikh was admitted and is recuperating,” an official 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 allegedly 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.