The Jharkhand Police believe the lynching of a Muslim trader in Ramgarh district on June 29 was not a spur-of-the-moment attack, but a pre-planned move, The Indian Express reported on Saturday. Bharatiya Janata Party’s district media in-charge, Deepak Mishra, is one among the 11 accused arrested so far.

The police said accused one Raj Kumar had followed Asgar Ansari from a market 15 km from Ramgarh on June 29. As per his call records, he is believed to have been in constant touch with Mishra and another main accused Chhotu Verma. Mishra and Verma had surrendered to the police on July 3. Both of them had connections with the gau rakshak samiti.

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“For almost two hours, he [Kumar] followed him [Ansari], informing the other two about his location,” Deputy Superintendent of Police VK Chowdhary told the English newspaper. “The others [all 11 accused] then gathered at a spot near Bazar Tand, where they intercepted Ansari around 9.30 am and started beating him.”

Chowdhary said four of the accused are Bajrang Dal leaders. Another BJP leader Nityanand Mahato had been arrested on July 1.

According to forensic results, Ansari was carrying four sacks of cow meat, Ramgarh Superintendent of Police Kishore Kaushal told Hindustan Times. Mishra and the other accused had in the past complained that Ansari had been transporting beef, but the police had not succeeded in arresting him.

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“On the day they waylaid Ansari, they did not inform the police,” The Indian Express quoted an unidentified police official as saying. “Ansari was aware of these complaints but continued to buy prohibited meat and sell it in different areas. He had a criminal record.”

Ansari’s vehicle was set on fire on June 29 after the mob suspected that he was carrying beef. He was later beaten to death. The Centre had claimed there was no “religious angle” to Ansari’s murder, while calling it a “barbaric incident”.