Jharkhand: An unruly mob assaulted a dairy farmer and set his house ablaze. The incident took place after the attackers found a carcass of a cow close to his house in Giridih district in Ranchi on Tuesday.
According to the jurisdictional police, a group of approximately 100 people attacked 55-year-old Usman Ansari of Beria Hatiatand village after they spotted the dead animal’s body outside his residence.
The frenzied crowd which grew in number attempted to lynch Usman, but the bid failed after the local police intervened and rescued the family. “Police had to resort to lathi charge and fire aerial shots after the mob tried to obstruct the rescue attempt and pelted stones at the police personnel,” Jharkhand Police Spokesperson and ADG (Operations) RK Mullik said.
One person named Krishna Pandit was shot in the leg. Both Ansari and Pandit were shifted to a hospital in Dhanbad for treatment and now are reported to be stable,
According to police sources, the cow belonged which belonged to Ansari had died of illness. However, a miscreant slit the cow’s throat with an intention to frame Ansari.
More than 200 security personnel have been deployed at the spot to ensure law and order. Ansari’s family is shifted to safety.
The incident is the latest in a string of attacks, reported from across the country in the name of cow protection.
One June 22, a Haryana teenager was lynched on a train by his co-passengers. The crowd called the teenager and his brothers as beef-eaters.
In April, a Muslim dairy farmer was lynched in Rajasthan for allegedly smuggling cows. In May, three Muslim cattle traders were lynched on alleged child-lifting rumours in a Jharkhand village.
(Agencies)
