Clash in Bihar’s Rohtas district after mob attacks two men ‘carrying beef’

Police said the mob caught two men who they suspected to be carrying beef, assaulted them and damaged their motorcycle.

Many people were injured in a clash between two groups in Bihar’s Rohtas district on Wednesday after two men were attacked by a mob on suspicion of carrying beef, police said.

Activists in Jaipur demand the immediate arrest of cow vigilantes who lynched a dairy farmer in Alwar, April 2017. (Photo used for representational purpose) (PTI File Photo)

The incident took place near a temple at Akorhi Gola market in Rohtas district, 146 km southwest of state capital Patna.

Police said the mob, already infuriated over raising of a mourning flag on the temple premises, caught two men who they suspected to be carrying beef, assaulted them and damaged their motorcycle.

The mob also blocked a road demanding removal of the flag and ban on cow slaughtering.

As the police resorted to mild lathicharge to disperse the mob, some people attacked the fleeing protestors. The rival groups, which outnumbered the policemen, indulged in heavy brick-batting, resulting in injuries to many people.

Police said the injured meat traders were arrested and admitted to a nearby hospital. They told the police that they brought the meat from a Bikramganj abbatoir and were going to sell it at Karoop village near Sasaram, headquarters of Rohtas district.

The situation was under control and senior officers were camping at the site with sufficient police force, the SDPO added.