 "Muslim couple allegedly assaulted by right-wing cow protection group in MP")
Members of the Gauraksha Samiti, a self-styled cow protection group, allegedly assaulted a Muslim couple on a train in Madhya Pradesh on Wednesday after they objected to their luggage being searched for beef.
According to NDTV.com, members of the right-wing group boarded the Kushinagar Express train at a station in Harda district and insisted on searching passengers and their baggage. The group claimed they had received information about a passenger carrying beef.
The Indian Express quoted the police saying that the right-wing activists claimed they had recovered “beef” from a bag during their “raid” on the general compartment of the train. The report added that the meat was identified as buffalo meat by a laboratory on Wednesday.
“They pushed my wife around when she objected to our luggage being searched. We live in India and know what is wrong and right, we eat only goat meat. Besides, the black bag from which the meat was seized did not belong to us. Finally, a constable came to our rescue and saved my wife,” 43-year-old Mohammed Hussain, who was on his way to his hometown in Harda with his wife, told The Indian Express.
Police have arrested two Samiti members, along with nine local residents, including a relative of the couple, who clashed with Samiti members. According to NDTV.com, all the arrested have been granted bail.
Speaking to The Indian Express, Harda MLA Ramkishore Dogne alleged that the administration had lodged the complaint against local relatives of Hussain under pressure from the Bajrang Dal and VHP. “First, they were harassed, then a complaint lodged against their relatives,’’ Dogne said.