LYNCH NATION
VIOLENT MOBS HAVE KILLED AT LEAST 32* PERSONS SINCE JUNE 2014; OVER 50 CASES OF MOB VIOLENCE HAVE BEEN REPORTED SINCE THEN
JUNE 4, 2014 PUNE, MAHARASHTRA
IT professional Mohsin Sadiq Shaikh, 24, is killed, allegedly by the Hindu Rashtra Sena (HRS), for uploading ‘derogatory’ pictures of Shivaji and Bal Thackeray on Facebook Arrested: 7 HRS men Political reaction: BJP MP Anil Shirole says the murder is unfortunate but the repercussions of the post natural
MARCH 5, 2015 DIMAPUR, NAGALAND
Mob pulls out rape accused Syed Farid Khan, 35, from jail and lynches him Arrested: 18
AUGUST 3 DADRI, UP
Three suspected cattle thieves—Anaf, Arif and Nazim—lynched
SEPTEMBER 28 DADRI, UP
Mob kills Mohammad Akhlaq on suspicion of having beef at home Arrested: 18 people, including BJP leader’s son
Political reaction: UP CM Akhilesh Yadav takes two days, PM Modi two weeks, to react
OCTOBER 14 SIRMAUR, HP
Saharanpur trucker Noman, 22, killed for transporting cattle Arrested: 12
DECEMBER 9 KARNAL, HARYANA
Cow vigilantes shoot at migrants. Khush Noor, 25, is killed Political reaction: Three days earlier, Haryana CM Manohar Lal Khattar announces criminal cases against gau rakshaks will be revoked
MARCH 21, 2016 LATEHAR, JHARKHAND
Cattle trader Mohammad Majloom, 35, and Inayatullah Khan, a boy of 12, hanged from tree in Jhabbar village Arrested: 5
Political reaction: Two days later, Jharkhand CM Raghubar Das says he has directed state administration to ensure such incidents are not repeated
APRIL 2 KURUKSHETRA, HARYANA
Cow vigilantes kill Mustain Abbas, 27 Arrests: None
MAY 10 SOUTH 24 PARGANAS, WEST BENGAL
ITI student Kaushik Purkait, 22, lynched on suspicion of cattle theft Arrested: 1 TMC leader
AUGUST 18 UDUPI, KARNATAKA
VHP-Bajrang Dal activists kill BJP worker Praveen Poojari, 29, for allegedly transporting cows Arrested: 17
SEPTEMBER 13 AHMEDABAD, GUJARAT
Mohammad Ayyub Mev, 25, beaten to death by cow vigilantes Arrested: 8
APRIL 1, 2017 ALWAR, RAJASTHAN
Cow vigilantes attack four drivers for smuggling cattle. Pehlu Khan, 55, dies Arrested: 7 Political reaction: A month later, CM Vasundhara Raje says lynchings won’t be tolerated
MAY 2 BULANDSHAHR, UP
Ghulam Mohammad, 59, killed for ‘helping’ Muslim boy elope with a Hindu girl Arrested: 9, including four members of Hindu Yuva Vahini
MAY 3 NAGAON, ASSAM
Abu Hanifa, 17, and Riyazuddin Ali, 21, killed for allegedly stealing cows Arrested: 2
MAY 18 SOBHAPUR AND BAGBERA, JHARKHAND
Sheikh Sajju, 25, Sheikh Siraj, 26, Sheikh Naim, 35, Sheikh Halim, 28, and Gautam Verma, 27, Vikas Verma, 25, Gangesh Gupta, 28, lynched in two separate incidents, sparked by rumours of child lifting Arrested: 33
JUNE 1 SONEPAT, HARYANA
Gau rakshaks mistake second-year BA student Shivam for a journalist and lynch him Arrested: 1
JUNE 16 PRATAPGARH, RAJASTHAN
CPI(ML) activist Zaffar Hussein, 55, dies after a scuffle with sanitation workers when he objected to their taking pictures of women defecating in the open Arrests: None Political reaction: CM Raje’s tweet terms victim’s death as “tragic demise”
JUNE 24 BALLABHGARH, HARYANA
Junaid Khan,15, is stabbed to death on a Delhi-Mathura train Arrested: 5
Political reaction: CM Khattar takes three days to declare Junaid’s killers will be punished
JUNE 24 NORTH DINAJPUR, WEST BENGAL
Nasirul Haque, 30, Mohammad Samiruddin, 32, Mohammad Nasir, 33, lynched in West Bengal over alleged cow theft Arrested: 3
Political reaction: TMC MLA Hamidur Rahman says: “Few cattle were stolen from the area and people were angry. The anger turned violent.”
JUNE 29 RAMGARH, JHARKHAND
Meat trader Asgar Ali, alias Alimuddin, 55, is beaten to death for carrying beef Arrested: 4, including a BJP member
Political reaction: The incident happens hours after PM Modi says killing people on pretext of protecting cows is not acceptable
*Based on reports published in English language media