Alert cops save life of Muslim man lynched by mob in J’khand over cow slaughter rumour

A Muslim man in Jharkhand was brutally attacked by mob over rumours of cow slaughter.

Ranchi, June 28: Timely intervention by police on Tuesday saved the life of a Muslim dairy owner in Giridih, Jharkhand, who was brutally attacked by a mob over rumours that he had slaughtered a cow.

The situation at Beria haat in Deori thana area of Giridih, 60 km from the district headquarters and 300 km from Ranchi, turned critical after the carcass of a cow with its throat slit was found.

The locals suspected Usman Ansari, who runs a dairy business in the area, to be behind the killing of the cow. Soon a crowd of around 100 people armed with sticks and stones went to Usman's house and attacked him.

Slowly the number of mob increased to almost a 1,000 men, who were either beating Usman or witnessing the circus of violence. Fortunately, police learnt about the news and immediately went to rescue the dairy owner.

However, the crowd was too big for the police to control and thus cops ended up opening fire on the mob. A police bullet hit the leg of a person identified as Krishna Pandit. Police clarified that Krishna was not a cow vigilante, but was part of the crowd. Several police personnel were also injured in the incident.

The condition of both Usman and Krishna are said to be critical. They were later shifted to a hospital in Ranchi for treatment.

"Police struggled for over two hours to rescue the man. Over 30 officers of the district, including SDO, DSP and OC, and police jawans were injured as the mob hurled stones at them," ADG (operations) RK Mallick was quoted as saying by The Telegraph.

A police official said that Usman did not slaughter the cow. "The animal belonged to the dairy owner, but died of illness. Before Usman could dispose of the carcass, a mischief-maker slit the cow's throat to frame the man. Usman apparently had served 10 years in prison earlier for a murder and had many enemies. At the same time, people of all communities bought milk from him when he opened his dairy business," added The Telegraph report.

Anticipating further violence, over 500 armed policemen from Ranchi, Hazaribagh and Koderma are currently camping in the area.

OneIndia News