A mob on Wednesday looted and vandalised a textile shop owned by a Muslim man in Nahan town, in Himachal Pradesh’s Sirmaur district, after he allegedly shared an image of “cattle slaughter” on WhatsApp, The Times of India reported.
In videos of the incident that have surfaced on social media, the mob can be seen vandalising the shop and shouting “Jai Shri Ram”.
It is unclear if the police have made any arrests in the matter.
The owner of the shop, identified as Javed, had left for his village in Uttar Pradesh’s Saharanpur district a few days prior to the incident, The Times of India reported.
An unidentified police official told The Times of India that a man named Rajkumar, from Banethi village in Sirmaur, had on Tuesday shared a video on Facebook alleging that Javed had “sacrificed a cattle” and posted a picture of the slaughter as his WhatsApp status.
This came a day after Bakra Eid, a Muslim festival that commemorates the spirit of sacrifice. The festival also entails slaughtering goats.
In the video, Rajkumar urges locals to come together to protest against the alleged cattle slaughter on Wednesday, the unidentified police official added.
Superintendent of Police Raman Kumar Meena said that the mob broke open and vandalised Javed’s shop on Wednesday, The Times of India reported. The crowd then marched to the deputy commissioner’s office to demand that a case be registered against Javed for hurting religious sentiments, under section 295 of the Indian Penal Code.
Meena said that the demand was being considered and that the law and order situation in the area was under control.
The local units of the Vishva Hindu Parishad and Bajrang Dal, both Hindutva organisations, issued an “ultimatum” to seven Muslim traders from Saharanpur to vacate their shops from the area in Nahan town within 24 hours, PTI reported. They also forced the market to remain shut on Wednesday.
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