The Centre on Friday ruled out any “religious angle” to the lynching of a 45-year-old Muslim trader who was suspected to have been carrying beef in Jharkhand. “It’s a barbaric incident, should be condemned by all, don’t bring religious angle in it,” Union Urban Development Minister Venkaiah Naidu told ANI.
Naidu also asked the the police to take action to ensure that such incidents are not repeated. Superintendent of Police Kishore Kaushal told ANI that a thorough investigation will be made into the violent incident.
A group of people on Thursday lynched Asgar Ansari near Bajartan village in Ramgarh district and set his van on fire. He was taken to a hospital by the police, where he died during treatment. “It’s premeditated murder,” RK Malik, additional director general of police, had told PTI. “The killers have been identified.” The came a day after more than a 100 people attacked a Muslim dairy farmer in the state’s Giridh district suspecting that he had slaughtered a cow.
Naidu’s comments came a day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed his disapproval of killings in the name of cow worship. The prime minister had said no one has the right to take the law into their hands, and that there is no place for violence in a society as violence never resolves any problems.
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