Muslim youths in UP beaten for carrying ‘ox hide’, sent to jail

Police said they had recovered the ox hide from the duo.

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Bahraich Additional SP Arvind Bhushan Pandey said Afsar and Pairu were beaten up by the local residents and Shiv Sena activists before police reached the spot.

He said police did not take any action against the people who assaulted the duo because no complaint had been received so far.

Uttar Pradesh Shiv Sena president Anil Singh said he was aware that Sainiks had been involved in catching the duo in Ramgaon. He said his partymen have been running a campaign across the state to ban the functioning of any meat shop or slaughter house during Navratri. Ramgaon Station Officer D P Kushwaha said Pairu and Afsar Ali of Babapurwa were carrying the hide in a gunny bag on a motorcycle. He said they stopped at a liquor shop at Nibuari village where the hide fell out of the bag.

Local residents who spotted the hide began to question them. A crowd collected, among them activists of the Shiv Sena. Pairu and Afsar were assaulted and tied to a tree before police reached there.

Kushwaha said a complaint was filed by one Arjun, son of Mahadeva, and the police lodged a case against Afsar and Pairu. He said they were sent to jail Sunday evening.

According to Kushwaha, a government veterinary doctor who examined the hide said it was that of an ox and and had been recently skinned.

Kushwaha said Afsar and Pairu told police they had bought the skin to make dhols. He said they failed to name anyone when they were asked who they had bought it from.