Himachal Pradesh Police was yet to make any arrest in the lynching of an alleged cow smuggler that has sparked outrage and condemnation, just days after the Dadri mob attack in which one man was killed over suspicion of beef eating.
As the police intensified its operation today to nab the accused, the family of the victim identified as Noman Akhtar (28) claimed he is not a cattle smuggler.
Noman, a resident of Saharanpur in Uttar Pradesh, was lynched by a mob yesterday while his four accomplices were apprehended by police with the help of local people after nearly four hours of chase of the truck carrying ten oxen and five cows in the forests in Sirmaur district, about 150 km from Shimla.
The police is trying to identify the persons involved in the attack as the mob was huge and it was pitch dark in the forest in the wee hours of the morning when the people chased the cow smugglers in the forests, captured them and beat them up.
"We have zeroed down on a few people," Soumya Sambasivan, SP, Sirmaur, said, adding that police was condient of nabbing the perpetrators of the attack soon.
Yogesh Rolta DSP, Pachhad said that efforts are on to identify the accused and some suspected people are on their radar.
Police have registered a case against some unknown persons in the case in which Noman's four accomplices were also beaten up.
A case of murder under section 302 of IPC was registered by Pachhad police on the complaint filed by one Imran, a relative of the deceased.
The victim's father Akhtar claimed that police are aware of the identify of the killers.
"The people who killed Noman took him to the police...Action should be taken against people mentioned in newspapers," he said, adding, "Noman was not a cattle smuggler. He was a daily wageer."
"Everything happened in front of police," he said.
Noman's four accomplices--Mohd Nishu (37), driver of the truck, Guljar (22), Salman (20) and Gulfam (24), who were admitted to the hospital are in police custody. The situation is normal and fully control, police said.
Rural Development Minister Anil Sharma cautioned against against giving a communal angle to the lynching incident.
Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed condemned the lynching incident.
"The killing of a youth by a mob in Himachal Pradesh is very unfortunate. We can't allow Kangaroo courts to pronounce judgement and lynch people the way they did in Dadri and now in Himachal," the Chief Minister said in a statement in Srinagar.
Himachal Pradesh Congress Committee condemned the attack and urged the state government to take strict action against the guilty persons.
