A man was brutally beaten up in Uttar Pradesh’s Mathura on Sunday, 20 March, after he was suspected of ferrying beef in his pickup van. Two FIRs have been filed in the incident, one of which names members of right-wing outfit Vishwa Hindu Parishad.
Videos being circulated on social media show the driver, who has been identified as 35-year-old Aamir, being beaten with belts and sticks by a mob of aggressors.
Additional Superintendent of Police, Mathura, MP Singh, said in a statement that two men, suspected by the mob to be associated with the driver, were also intercepted and beaten up in Raal village.
“A pickup vehicle which was travelling from Mathura’s Govardhan to Hathras’s Sikandrarao was stopped near Raal village by locals. The driver and two others were held hostage and beaten up on the suspicion of conveying cow carcasses and beef. After receiving information, the police took immediate action, and freed the hostages from the men and sent them for medical treatment.”
Additional Superintendent of Police, Mathura, MP Singh
A 35-year-old driver of a pick up van was mercilessly beaten up by cow vigilantes in #Mathura’s Raal village, on Sunday night, over suspicion of "ferrying #beef and smuggling #cattle" in his vehicle. @mathurapolice pic.twitter.com/P5wi2Ae7Hs
— Anuja Jaiswal (@AnujaJaiswalTOI) March 21, 2022
The police added that after preliminary investigation, no beef or carcasses were found in the vehicle.
An FIR has been filed at the Jait police station against 16 people in the incident based on Aamir’s complaint, under Indian Penal Code sections of murder, rioting, criminal intimidation, and robbery, among others.
Among those booked under the FIR include Hindutva outfit VHP’s Vikash Sharma and Balram Thakur.
Sharma has also lodged a complaint with the police, alleging that he and Thakur were beaten up by locals of the Raal village. An FIR has been registered against 150 people based on the complaint.
A probe into the matter is underway.
This article first appeared on thequint.com