Four persons have been arrested for assaulting a Muslim carrying meat at Jalalkheda, about 35 kilometers from Nagpur, the Indian media reported on Thursday. "Salim Ismail Shah, 32, was carrying 15 kgs of meat on his motorbike from Amner village to Katol, when he was accosted by four persons who beat him up, alleging he was carrying beef. Shah sustained injuries for which he was admitted to a hospital, from where he has been discharged," Jalalkheda police inspector Vijaykumar Tiwari said.
The four arrested have been identified as Moreshwar Tandulkar, Ashwin Uike, Janardan Chaudhary and Rameshwar Taywade. Tandulkar is said to be the tehsil unit chief of Prahar Sanghatan, an organisation headed by Bacchu Kadu, an independent MLA from Achalpur (Amravati). Tiwari confirmed that Tandulkar is the Tehsil Chief.
On inquiring whether any of the other three had any links with Bajrang Dal or Vishwa Hindu Parishad, Tiwari replied in negative. Tiwari said, "We have sent the meat sample to a forensic laboratory to find out if it was beef or something else. We haven't registered any offence against Shah as of now." On being asked where Shah was headed with the meat, Tiwari informed, "Apparently there was some community programme at Katol and Shah was carrying it for the programme."
A video clip of the assault, showing the man being dragged and kicked around, went viral on social media. The incident follows a long list of such cases of mob taking law into their own hands, often resulting in casualties.