Muslim man lynched over 'cow slaughter rumours' in Uttar Pradesh's Hapur district; police claim it was case of road rage

A 45-year-old Muslim man was lynched and another injured, on Monday, allegedly over rumours of cow slaughter in Hapur district’s Bajhera Khurd village in Uttar Pradesh. According to the  Hindustan Times, eyewitnesses said villagers from Madhpura Mustafabad had spotted the victims — Qasim, who was killed, and Shamiuddin — and a mob soon gathered. “Shamiuddin had gone to Madhpura to get fodder for cattle, and Qasim met him there. It is possible that my brother was attacked because he was spotted with Qasim, who is a cattle trader,” Shamiuddin’s brother Mohammad Yaseen told HT at Dev Nandini Hospital in Hapur. [caption id=“attachment_4509387” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representational image. AFP[/caption] A mob gathered at a farm after an announcement was made at a local place of worship in Bajhera Khurd that smugglers were stealing cows and slaughtering them,  The Hindu reported. A video of the purported incident surfaced on Tuesday, in which unidentified voices can be heard justifying the attack, calling it “punishment for cow slaughter”, reported The Times of India. As news of the attack spread, tensions between the communities escalated, and senior police officers were deployed to the area to prevent clashes. The district police has registered a case against two dozen people,  News18 reported. The Hapur superintendent of police, Sankalp Sharma, rejected the claim that rumours of cow slaughter had led to the incident. They claimed that the attack took place because of an accident caused by road rage. “The victim’s family has given us a written complaint, saying that the beating and the fight was triggered after a motorbike hit some people,” he was quoted as saying by  The Hindu. “This has nothing to do with cow slaughter rumours. The police is investigating the matter, and we will take strict action against the culprits.”