Vigilante group thrashes four in Madhya Pradesh over cow smuggling suspicion; police arrest victims

Betul (Madhya Pradesh): Four persons were allegedly thrashed by a vigilante group on the suspicion of being cow smugglers in a remote tribal village in Betul district, with the video of the incident going viral on social media. The alleged cow smugglers were arrested but the assailants were absconding, police said. After a video of the incident, which reportedly took place last week, went viral on social media, police registered separate cases against the assailants as well as the alleged cow smugglers. [caption id=“attachment_3888199” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Representational image. Reuters[/caption] The video showed the four youths tied up and being beaten brutally in front of a crowd at the village, about 110 km from Betul district headquarters. Sub Divisional Officer of Police Prem Singh Thakur said on Wednesday that, “A case was registered against Shyam, Manak, Sundar Parate and others (part of the cow vigilante group) for assault”. All of them were absconding. Also, another case was registered against the four persons, all residents of Rehatgao in neighbouring Harda district, for alleged cow smuggling, he said. “These cow smugglers have been arrested. We are investigating the video clip, and will take further action accordingly,” the police officer said.