On June 29, self-styled ‘cow protectors’

beat a meat trader, Asgar Ali, to death in Ramgarh, Jharkhand

Police have arrested 12 persons, including a local BJP leader

On June 29, the very day Prime Minister Narendra Modi said at Sabarmati Ashram in Gujarat that murder in the name of ‘gau bhakti (cow worship)’ was unacceptable, Jharkhand witnessed yet another murder. Asgar Ali, alias Alimuddin, who was 42 and a meat trader by profession, was driving his Maruti van from Chitarpur to Ramgarh, two companions in tow, a journey he took routinely to transport meat to his customers in Ramgarh. As he reached a crowded market 2.5 km from Ramgarh police station, a group of 30 men stopped his car, pulled him out, threw out the three bags of meat in his van on the road and began to beat Ali. They also torched his van.

Police say they managed to rescue Ali from the mob, and he died later at a hospital. They also say they suspect it to be premeditated murder—Ali had a criminal record, according to Jharkhand police spokesperson R.K. Mallick, and was an accused in a case involving a child’s kidnapping and murder.

So far, the police have arrested 12 of the 13 accused, including local BJP leader Nityanand Mahato. The police have also identified Deepak Mishra and Chhotu Rana—both members of the local gau raksha samiti—as the main accused, based on videos captured by passersby. One chilling video shows Rana, a local carpenter, thrashing a bloodied Ali with a polycarbonate stick Mishra gave him after he had tired of hitting Ali. Rana surrendered at a local court on July 1, followed by Mishra and Verma on July 3.

— By AMITABH SRIVASTAVA