BJP worker beaten up in Nagpur was carrying beef: Forensic report

Saleem (36) was beat up mercilessly by cow vigilantes on Wednesday afternoon for carrying beef near Jalalkheda in Nagpur district, some 80 kms from Nagpur.

The meat seized from a Muslim worker of the ruling BJP who was assaulted by self-styled cow protectors on Wednesday is beef, according to a Maharashtra state-run forensic science laboratory report.

A cow walks past a closed slaughter house in Allahabad.(REUTERS)

Nagpur rural police had sent the meat seized from Salim Ismail Shah, 36, to the regional forensic science laboratory at Ajni in Nagpur and received the report on Saturday.

Sanjay Purandare, deputy superintendent of police, Nagpur (Rural), said, “The report has established that the meat is beef.” He added that Shah, who had insisted he was carrying mutton and not beef, was booked under relevant sections of law against cow slaughter.

The slaughter of cows, considered holy by many Hindus, is banned in many states of the country. The Devendra Fadnavis-led Maharashtra government even plans to provide special kits to police for on-the-spot beef-detection tests.

Rajiv Potdar, president of Nagpur (district) unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), said, “Salim’s action was treated as an anti-party activity. We have expelled him from the party.”

Shah, a resident of Katol in Nagpur district, was the general secretary of Katol taluka minority cell of the BJP.

Potdar said police should take stern action against Salim, but also condemned the men who assaulted him at Jalalkheda town. “No one has the right to take the law into one’s hands.”

Shah suffered extensive injuries on his neck and face in the attack by four persons. He was admitted to a hospital in Nagpur and discharged on Thursday morning. However, he was admitted to hospital again after he complained of uneasiness.

Police arrested four men for the assault and later identified them as workers of Prahar Sanghatana organisation of Bachchu Kadu, an independent MLA from Achalpur in Amravati district.