The Nagpur Rural police arrested a Bharatiya Janata Party worker under the Maharashtra Animal Preservation (Amendment) Act for possession of beef, PTI reported on Sunday. Salim Shaha, a member of the BJP’s unit in Katol, was beaten up on July 12 by a group of men who had suspected he was carrying beef.
After the incident, samples of the meat that Shaha was carrying were sent for forensic analysis. According to the police, the test results had said he was carrying beef. However, Shaha had claimed that he was carrying mutton.
On Thursday, four men were arrested for beating up Shaha and were charged with voluntarily causing grievous hurt. The accused are part of Achalpur MLA Bacchu Kadu’s outfit, Prahar Sangathan.
Shaha was arrested on Saturday night, Superintendent of Police (Nagpur rural) Shailesh Balkawde told the news agency. A Nagpur magistrate court sent Salim Shaha to police custody for a day.
On Saturday, Rajiv Potdar, BJP’s Nagpur rural unit president had said that Shaha would be expelled from the party. “Stern action should be taken against him according to the law, but people must not take law in their own hands and resort to violence in such cases,” Potdar had said.
A video of a mob beating Shaha had gone viral. The video showed Shaha being dragged, kicked and assaulted by the group of men. Shaha had suffered injuries to his face and neck.
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