The Bharatiya Janata Party on Tuesday accused the ruling Samajwadi Party (SP) in Uttar Pradesh of creating unnecessary hype and communal tension through the recent Dadri lynching incident.
The BJP response was to an enquiry by the U.P. Veterinary department that revealed that the meat over which Mohammad Akhlaq was lynched on September 28 was mutton.
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What was recovered from the house of the lynching victim in Dadri was not beef, but meat of "goat progeny," a preliminary inquiry by the Uttar Pradesh Veterinary Department has found. The "mutton sample" has now been sent to the forensic laboratory in Mathura for 'final diagnosis,' the UPVD report said.
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BJP leader Siddharth Nath Singh said,"The Samajwadi party from day one wanted to politicize the whole issue. Now, the truth has emerged from the forensic test. Therefore, the Samajwadi Party should apologise not only to Mohammad Akhlaq's family, but also to the people of Uttar Pradesh for creating this drama and this hype of communal violence."
"The BJP has said from the very beginning that mob lynching had happened. An unfortunate incident has happened. Culprits who have done this, those who have spread this rumour they need to be arrested rather than looking at it through forensic evidence, whether the meat belongs to a goat or a cow," he added.
The report has come less than a week after the Gautambudh Nagar Police charged 15 people, including a minor, in this case. The report is now part of the charge sheet filed last week against 15 persons, including Vishal Rana and Shivam, son and nephew of local BJP leader Sanjay Rana. Vishal and Shivam allegedly spread the rumour that resulted in the mob attack on Akhlaq's house.
Mohammad Akhlaq, 52, was beaten to death on September 28 in Bisahra village in Dadri District by a mob infuriated by rumours that he and his family were eating beef. Akhlaq's son Mohammad Danish, who was also beaten up, and is recuperating from his injuries.
