Villagers in India lynch two Muslims

VILLAGERS in eastern India beat two Muslim cattle truckers to death yesterday, police said, in yet another lynching on the pretext of protecting a beast held sacred by many Hindus.

The drivers were transporting cows in West Bengal near the border of Bangladesh when they were stopped by villagers.

“The villagers blocked the road and forced them to stop the vehicle. The two men were then dragged out of the vehicle and lynched. The driver of the vehicle escaped,” said senior West Bengal police official Anuj Sharma. It was too early to say whether the murders were motivated by religion or suspicions the men were mistreating the cows, police added.

An investigation is underway into the lynching and into whether the drivers had legally purchased the cattle or were smugglers involved in the illicit beef trade.

West Bengal permits cow slaughter, unlike many Indian states where possession or consumption of beef is banned, and some where life sentences are imposed for breaking the law.

India has been reeling this year from a spate of vigilante murders, especially targeting Muslims for allegedly killing cows or consuming beef. There has been a surge in attacks by “cow protection” vigilante groups, who roam highways inspecting livestock trucks for any trace of the animal.

Modi’s critics say vigilantes have been emboldened by the election in 2014 of his right-wing Bharatiya Janata Party, which promised to outlaw cow slaughter in India.