Mumbai, (Samajweekly) The Congress’s Maharashtra unit on Monday attacked the state’s Eknath Shinde government for the lynching of a Kurla man allegedly by cow-vigilantes in Nashik on June 24.
The victim was identified as Afaan A.M. Ansari, 32 and the Nashik police have arrested 11 persons in connection with the mob killing on suspicion of transporting 450 kg beef on Saturday, according to Superintendent of Police Shahaji Umap.
State Congress Working President M. Arif Naseem Khan said this was the second incident of its kind in Nashik in barely a fortnight after lynching of Thane youth Lukman S. Ansari on June 8, and questioned whether law and order exists in the state under Shinde.
“Both the incidents are shocking, happened in the same district, barely 25 km apart, under similar circumstances… Is there some link? We demand a compensation of at least Rs 10 lakh for the families of both the deceased, and stringent punishment for the accused,” he said.
In the latest instance, the Nashik police said that around 15 persons accosted Ansari and his cousin Nasir H. Shaikh – transporting around 450 kg meat in a car – and brutally hammered them, and Ansari later died in hospital.
Based on the complaint by Shaikh – who is under treatment in a local hospital – the Nashik police lodged an FIR and rounded up 11 persons on Sunday, and further investigations are underway.
Deputy SP, Nashik, Sunil Bhamre told media persons that samples of the beef have been sent for forensics to ascertain whether it is from buffalo or cow, and the report is awaited.
Meanwhile, Ansari’s body was brought to Kurla amidst anger displayed by the locals even as video clips of the attack went viral on social media evoking sharp reactions.
