Over six months after fifty-two-year-old Mohammad Akhlak was lynched allegedly by his neighbours in a Dadri village over rumours of his family having eaten beef, the forensic report of the meat recovered from his house, is expected to be known on April 7.
Uttar Pradesh government submitted the forensic report of the meat in the Greater Noida trial court where the case of Akhlak's murder was going on. The report is likely to be opened on April 7, next date of hearing.
The State government opposed the plea of Sanjay Rana, BJP leader and father of Vishal Rana, one of the accused in Akhlak's lynching case, for the CBI probe in the case. During a hearing of Mr. Rana's plea in the Allahabad High Court on Monday, the State government said, if the High Court finds any flaw or irregularity in the probe by State investigative agencies and orders a CBI probe, it would be open for the probe by the central agency. It also clarified that the question of the meat recovered from Akhlak's house, being mutton or beef, was immaterial to the ongoing court case which was about Akhlak's murder.
The meat, which was earlier tested by the Rajakiya Pashu Chikitsalay, local veterinary hospital in Dadri, in October last year, >concluded that it was mutton . The meat sample was sent to Marhura veterinary lab for further examination.
News of the forensic report came two days after Akhlak's family expressed its apprehension about the possibility of the forensic report having been "tampered and manipulated to justify Akhlak's lynching and then further use that report to communally vitiate the environment of the region before the Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls."
"I fear Dadri will be brought back in the discourse by this forensic report, in an extremely ugly way, to justify my brother's lynching and to politicise it and to further communally polarise the region," Mohammad Jameel, Akhlak's sibling told The Hindu .
In an indication that the politics over beef, might again be back into the discourse, the villagers of Bishahra in Dadri >told The Hindu that they have already planned to mobilise people at various levels once the forensic report becomes public.
"The forensic report will bring out what we have been saying all along that Akhlak had slaughtered a cow which led to the public anger in which he was killed," said Ombeer, father of one of the accused in this case.
"Though we did not get permission to hold the Mahapanchayat we will certainly mobilise public opinion to erase the stain and bad publicity that Bishahra has repeatedly been getting since this thing happened six months back," he added.
Eighteen people from the village, including Vishal Rana, son of the local BJP leader Sanjay Rana and his nephew Shivam, were arrested on charges of murder and assault. Lately, the village had been tense over arrest of 18 youths as the villagers intensified their protest demanding a CBI enquiry into the case and release of the accused of Akhlak's lynching till the completion of the CBI enquiry. They also demanded the forensic report be made public and action be taken against Akhlak's family for alleged cow slaughter.
