Jignasa Sinha
A 40-year-old man, looking after a farm house in Delhi’s Dwarka area, was lynched by a group of around 15 people on suspicion of cow slaughter. Six other people were also injured in the attack. Shortly before the incident, the police was going towards the farm house itself.
According to the police, the victim Rajaram (40) used to work at the farmhouse and also used to sell milk to the nearby villagers. His family denied any allegations of cow slaughter and said he was targeted by “locals” for no reason. His wife Jhaso Devi on Tuesday claimed that local people had spread rumors about her ailing husband and their only fault was that he used to sell cow’s milk and drive an e-rickshaw for a living. Devi told ‘PTI-Bhasha’, “My husband was innocent. In fact, he was ill for more than a year due to liver-related ailment, which was undergoing treatment. He was never involved in cow slaughter or any illegal activities.”
Police said they got information about the incident around 2 pm on Monday. An official said, “We had information about a group of men suspected of being involved in killing cows and selling beef from a farmhouse in Chhawla area. Our staff was going home when a PCR call came from the same place regarding the violence. When we reached the spot, we saw that the youths were being attacked. The staff intervened and all the injured were taken to nearby hospitals.”
The police have registered two FIRs in the matter – one on the complaint of the injured person and the other on the complaint of the local people. Police said they have arrested five people so far for alleged cow slaughter, while no arrests have been made in the murder and assault case.
According to the FIR lodged on the basis of the complaint of MD Sanu, one of the injured people, he and some others were called by Rajaram on Monday night. Shanu used to work for Rajaram earlier and used to get around Rs 500-1,000.
According to the FIR, Rajaram was inside the house. At the same time a group of attackers, who were calling themselves “cow protectors”, entered the house. The complainant alleged that the men interrogated her and assaulted her. Later the police arrived and stopped them and took the injured to the hospital, where Rajaram died during treatment.
Refusing to be named, a senior police officer said, “The team collected some samples from the spot and sent it for testing. Meanwhile, the employees have arrested five locals who were allegedly involved in cow slaughter.”
Shankar Choudhary, DCP (Dwarka) said, “The cow slaughter incident was reported and the team arrested five people involved in the case. Later, one of the accused, Sanu, alleged that the miscreants thrashed him. Rajaram, who was a suspect in the cow slaughter case, was taken to the hospital, but his health deteriorated. He was taken to RTRM Hospital where he died. We are probing the matter and will arrest the miscreants.”