15 people, including 2 juveniles, named in Dadri lynching chargesheet

Fifteen people, including two juveniles, were named in a chargesheet on Wednesday over the lynching of a Muslim man following rumours of cow slaughter in Uttar Pradesh’s Dadri.

A mob had lynched 55-year-old Mohammad Ikhlaq and seriously injured his son Danish on September 28 in the Uttar Pradesh village over rumours that they had slaughtered a cow.

Seven persons have been arrested in the past two days for their alleged involvement in the killing, an incident which had sparked nationwide outrage amidst allegations of rising intolerance.

“The chargesheet has been filed against 15 persons. An additional chargesheet will be filed against two more persons, who were arrested on Wednesday. Two persons are absconding and they will be arrested soon,” said Anurag Singh, deputy superintendent of police, Dadri, Greater Noida.

“In the case diary, we have mentioned that the accused persons had attacked Ikhlaq’s house after accusing him of cow slaughter from the loudspeaker of the local temple. The accused persons had found pieces of meat stored in the fridge of Ikhlaq claiming it as cow meat. We have not received the forensic report of the pieces of meat yet. As soon as the report comes, it will be submitted in the court,” said Singh.

The Dadri incident had led to stinging criticism of the BJP-led government at the Centre for allegedly failing to rein in fringe groups which were targeting dissenting voices and freedom of personal choice.

In pics: The unfolding of the Dadri lynching case

The lynching was also followed by a host of prominent historians, litterateurs, scientists and filmmakers returning different awards as a mark of protest against “growing intolerance” in the country which they say has become the hallmark of the BJP-led government.

The government had, however, termed the incident a law and order problem in a particular state and said the Centre had nothing to do with it.

Read: Learnt lesson from Dadri, should’ve communicated faster: Javadekar

Dadri lynching has raised troubling questions on India’s ‘secularity’