Two minors arrested for cow slaughter dubbed innocent

Two young Muslims named in the FIR for allegedly slaughtering cows were actually attending an Islamic congregation when the incident allegedly took place, villagers say.

Two villagers of Naya Bans, Yasin Khan and Mohd Hussain, said some 100 police personnel called out the names of Sarfuddin, 11, and Parvez, 12, and took them away.

Khan and Hussain said that they told the police that the two minors had been falsely booked and that they were not even in the village when the alleged slaughter of cows took place.

They were attending a congregation of Tabligi Jamaat, about 45 km away, and showed the police a video to back their claim.

But the police took them away. After detaining them for about four hours and getting photocopy of their Aadhaar card, they were allowed to go on the condition that they would come to the police station whenever called.

A policeman said on the condition of anonymity that the FIR in which the two minors have been named was registered following a statement by Yogesh Raj, the main accused in the Bulandshahr mob violence which left a police Inspector and a civilian dead.

Yogesh Raj claimed that seven men slaughtered cows in village Mahaw. Yogesh Raj is still at large but the police have arrested four other persons in the case.

A police officer said that two FIRs had been registered - one for cow slaughter and another for rioting.

Seven persons have been booked for cow slaughter including two minors. In the FIR for rioting, 27 persons have been named including leaders of Bajrang Dal and Vishwa Hindu Parishad along with 60 unidentified persons.

--IANS

sps/mr