Ahmedabad: A man who had suffered serious injuries after being attacked by gau-rakshaks died at the hospital in Ahmedabad on Friday.
The deceased Mohammad Ayyub(29) and another man Sameer Sheikh were allegedly beaten up by the cow vigilantes last week. The duo were transporting a cow and a calf
At around 3 am on Tuesday, Ayyub’s car crashed into another on a highway resulting in the death of the calf. Injured Ayyub tried to flee the spot but was chased by a group of men and beaten up, police said. His associate Sheikh, however, was saved by a policeman who was on duty nearby.
A complaint was filed by three gau rakshaks against Mohammad Ayyub and Sameer Sheikh for illegally transporting the animals. The three men were also among those that attacked Ayyub, his family has alleged. But the police has said there was no evidence to suggest that they were at the spot.
“We had detained them as well but even Sameer could not identify them. Also so far we haven’t got any evidence to establish their presence at the spot. We have filed an attempt to murder case against unknown people,” said R R Bhagat, a senior police officer. Efforts were being made to identify the people who had gathered at the spot based on security camera footage, he added.
But the kin of Ayyub alleged that he refused to identify the attackers under pressure “By filing the complaint, it’s clear that they were at the spot. Even if they were transporting the animals illegally, they have no right to take law into their own hands,” said Rozar Khan, Ayyub’s uncle.
Several incidents of attack by cow protectors have made national headlines since the public flogging of four Dalit men in Gujarat’s Una in July.
