Maulana Shahabuddin, an imam of a mosque in Barakatha, Jharkhand, was beaten to death by a group of men after his bike allegedly hit a woman, causing her minor injuries in Jharkhand’s Koderma district.
The incident occurred on 30 June when Shahabuddin was returning home from Barkada. He lost balance after an auto suddenly appeared before his vehicle, causing his bike to collide with a woman named Anita Devi, resulting in minor injuries to her hands and nose. Following the collision, Anita Devi’s husband, her relatives, and some locals gathered at the spot and started assaulting Shahabuddin, beating him with batons and sticks.
Suraj Das, a local leader associated with the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM), told The Observer Post that the assault occurred due to the Muslim identity of the victim.
The police have denied any mob lynching or communal angle. Instead, they stated they would investigate the case as an accident.
“There is no incident of mob lynching in the preliminary investigation. The said incident is related to a vehicle accident for which an FIR has been lodged. Please do not try to spoil the communal harmony by posting such posts on social media,” Hazaribagh Police wrote on X.
This story was originally published in maktoobmedia.com. Read the full story here.