Villagers lynch two transporting cattle in West Bengal

KOLKATA: Villagers beat to death two Muslim men who were on a vehicle transporting cattle in the early hours of Sunday morning, an assault the police said could have been instigated by so-called cow protection vigilantes.

The attack took place at a village in Jalpaiguri district, around 622 kilometres from Kolkata, shortly after 2:30am on Sunday.

This the second case of cow-related lynching in West Bengal in the last two months after three Muslim youth were beaten to death in June.

“The place of the attack was Dadon, a small village just 15 kilometres from Dhupguri town in Jalpaiguri. On being informed, the police rushed to the spot and found the bodies of the two victims who appear to be in their mid-thirties,” said a district police official.

The victims were identified as Hafizul Sheikh, a resident of Dhubri, Assam, and Anwar Hussain, a resident of Patlahawa village in Cooch Behar district.

It was not clear if they were cattle smugglers or legitimate traders who purchased the cows from a nearby cattle market. “We are also investigating if this lynching was because of spontaneous rage of the villagers or conducted by any organised group under the garb of public rage,” the district police official said.

The ADG (law & order), Anuj Sharma, did not comment on the issue but a senior official said on condition of anonymity that cow vigilante groups have become increasingly active in certain pockets. Police are yet to make any arrests.