An Indian police official announced the arrest of 3 people in the state of Bihar (eastern India) on suspicion of beating a Muslim man to death, claiming that he was trying to "traffick illegal meat."
The announcement by the Russolpur police in Bihar of the arrest of the three persons came days after the death of the victim, Naseeb Qureshi, 56, while he was being taken to hospital due to his serious injuries.
A crowd of more than 20 people attacked "Qureshi" and beat him, claiming that he was carrying beef, and local governments in a number of Indian states restrict the sale and consumption of this type of meat, as cows are sacred to Hindus.
Earlier, the Indian "Maktoub Media" website reported that the victim was accompanied by his nephew when the crowd attacked them near a mosque in the city of Chhabra last Tuesday.
Qureshi died during his transfer to the hospital, due to his serious injury as a result of being beaten (communication sites)
His nephew, Fayrouz, said he managed to escape from the crime scene.
While the aggressors continued to exchange assaults on his uncle with fists and sticks, indicating that when he went to the police station to inquire about his uncle, one of the officers told him, "They deserve it."
A member of parliament and head of the Muslim Union Party, Asaduddin Owaisi, said that "crimes of the Hindu right are increasing in the Bihar state government, which is supposed to be secular."
Since the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party, led by Narendra Modi, came to power in 2014, Hindu groups, which appointed themselves guardians of cows, began to "enforce the law" themselves, by targeting those suspected of slaughtering cows to obtain their meat or skin.
Hardline Hindu groups are calling for a complete ban on cow slaughter in all parts of India.