UP: Aligarh trader assaulted after being accused of transporting cow meat, 2 held

A 45-year-old meat trader was assaulted allegedly by a group of men in Uttar Pradesh’s Aligarh district on Saturday after they accused him of transporting cow meat, despite his claim that he was carrying buffalo meat purchased from a licensed supplier, the Hindustan Times reported.

Two persons have been arrested in connection with the incident, police said.

Shareef Qureshi was attacked while transporting meat on his motorcycle to his shop in the Harduaganj area of the district after he was stopped on Hanumgarhi Road by a group of men who arrived on motorcycles and in a car.

In his complaint, he alleged that the men assaulted him with bricks and verbally abused him. His family alleged that the assailants also tore up his valid purchase documents before attacking him, claiming that the meat was cow meat, The Hindu reported.

Rajeev Dwivedi, circle officer (II), Aligarh, told the Hindustan Times that a case had been registered on the basis of Qureshi’s complaint under sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita pertaining to rioting, wrongful restraint, voluntarily causing hurt, breach of peace by intentional insult, criminal intimidation and mischief.

The accused named in the case are Anuj Pandit, Sheelu Rajput, Naveen Chaudhary, Sumit Thakur, Aditya Hindu, Yashu Pandit and Prashant Jatav along with 10 to 12 unidentified persons, all residents of Harduaganj.

Anuj Pandit and Rajput have been arrested, the circle officer told The Indian Express.

Dwivedi added that Qureshi had purchased around 20 to 25 kilograms of meat from a licensed supplier in Aligarh and was transporting it to his shop, The Indian Express reported.

A sample of the meat recovered from the complainant has been sent to a laboratory in Mathura to determine its nature.