After MP Tailor Lynched on Suspicion of Cow Slaughter, Police Claim No Communal Tension

Maihar (MP): Days after a tailor was bludgeoned to death by a mob in Madhya Pradesh’s Satna district, the police claimed that there was no communal tension in the area and things are under control.

Forty-five-year-old Riyaz succumbed to injuries at a hospital while his friend Shakeel is in a coma.

Rajendra Pathak, the inquiry officer and in charge of Badera police station, said that the situation was under control as the accused and victims belonged to different areas. “There is no communal tension in the area as the assailants are from Amgar village while those who allegedly slaughtered cows were from Maihar town,” he said.

Pathak said that some meat was recovered from the crime spot and has been sent to the laboratory for tests.

Four people have been arrested under relevant sections of the IPC for the attack. One of the accused, Pawan Singh Gond, has lodged a complaint with the police against Riyaz and Shakeel, accusing them of slaughtering cows in the village.

Police registered a first information report on the basis of Pawan Singh Gond’s complaint against Riyaz and Shakeel under sections of the Madhya Pradesh Cow Slaughter Ban Act, 2004, and the Madhya Pradesh Agriculture Cattle Preservation Act, 1959.

The mob allegedly beat the duo with sticks in the early hours of Friday in Amgara village after getting information that two persons were slaughtering a cow. The men were attacked about 28 km from their home in Purani Basti neighbourhood of Maihar town.

The incident has triggered tension in Satna, about 485 km northeast of the state capital Bhopal. Home Minister Rajnath Singh is currently on a two-day visit to Madhya Pradesh and, Satna is one of this stops. In the backdrop of the situation, security has been tightened to avoid any untoward incident.

Sub-Divisional Officer of Police, Maiher area, Arvind Tiwari, had said that they recovered "beef" and carcass of a slaughtered bull from the spot.

Maihar had also witnessed communal tensions following a dispute between two communities during a religious procession on December 9, 2017.

Madhya Pradesh amended its rules against cow slaughter in 2012 and raised the maximum punishment from three years’ imprisonment to seven years.