U.P. report doesn’t fix motive for Dadri killing

The government has refrained from mentioning any reason for the murder of Mohammad Akhlaq

Policemen keep a vigil at the entrance of Bishara Village in Dadri, where a man was lynched by a mob for allegedly eating beef. Photo: V. Sudershan

The Uttar Pradesh government has sent a detailed report to the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) regarding the Dadri incident, where a 50-year-old man was lynched over rumours of consuming beef.

According to the report, accessed by The Hindu , the U.P. government has refrained from mentioning any reason for the murder of Mohammad Akhlaq. Without mentioning the word “beef or cow slaughter,” the State government has said that there were allegations that the deceased was killed for consuming “ pratibandhit pashu ka maans ” (meat of an animal, whose slaughter is banned).

The government said in its report it was still investigating and had not reached any conclusion yet.

In the two-page report sent on Monday night, U.P. has also listed the names of political personalities who visited Akhlaq’s family and those who went to Bishara village in Dadri but did not visit the family.

Several leaders like Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, Congress president Rahul Gandhi, All India Majlis-e-Ittehad-ul-Muslimeen leader (AIMIM) Asaduddin Owaisi, MoS (Culture and Civil Aviation) Mahesh Sharma and Sangeet Som, BJP MLA and an accused in the Muzaffarnagar riots visited the village.

“It is a factual report and we have refrained from mentioning any reason about the cause of the incident,” said a senior U.P. official.

The visits of various political personalities also finds mention in the report,” said a senior U.P. official.

He said the State government had also informed the MHA of the preventive steps taken to calm the situation.

“We have informed the MHA about the night-halts that the Additional District Magistrate has been asked to make in the village to bring in a sense of security among the community there. The fact that a social harmony committee has been constituted to instil confidence among the communities has also been mentioned,” said the official.

The report also mentioned the compensation announced by the State government to the family of the deceased, besides the deployment of extra security forces.