Salim Ismail Shah, who was attacked by cow vigilantes in Nagpur's Bharsingi area on Wednesday on suspicion of carrying beef is the general secretary of the BJP’s Katol taluka minority cell.
Police have arrested four persons for attacking Shah, while a case has registered against the BJP leader for possessing beef as the report of the sample meat is yet to come.
According to a Hindustan Times report, Shah was returning from Amner village to Katol by two-wheeler carrying meat which he bought for a function. Subsequently, he was stopped by gau-rakshaks who started beating him for allegedly transporting beef.
Speaking to the newspaper, Shah said that he tried his best to convince those men that he was carrying mutton, not beef but they didn't listen to him. One of the attackers threw Shah's vehicle on him making him unconscious.
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Later, a team of police shifted Shah to a local media centre. From there he was taken to Katol civil hospital. His condition is currently stable.
A case have been filed against Ashwin Uike, Janardan Chowdhury, Rameshwar Tayde and Moreshwar Tandulkar as the attackers. Another case has been registered against Shah for allegedly carrying beef. They have been sent to five-day police remand, the report adds.
It comes barely two weeks after Prime Minister Narendra Modi strongly condemned violence in the name of cow protection.
"Killing people in the name of 'Gau Bhakti' is not acceptable. This is not something Mahatma Gandhi would approve," PM Modi had said during his speech to mark the centenary of the Sabarmati Ashram in Ahmedabad on June 29.
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On 22 June, a 17-year-old boy Junaid Khan was brutally attacked on board the Delhi- Mathura passenger train between Ballabgarh and Mathura stations.
Junaid was stabbed to death while his brothers, Hashim and Sakir, were injured by a mob which also allegedly hurled slurs against them. His brothers said the attackers had taunted and repeatedly called them “anti-nationals” and “beef eaters”.
(With inputs from PTI)
