Cow vigilantes lynch Delhi farmhouse caretaker on suspicion of slaughtering, selling beef

New Delhi: A caretaker in a Delhi farmhouse was beaten to death and six people were injured after a group of 10-15 men, claiming to be cow vigilantes, attacked them on suspicion that they were slaughtering cows, police said on Tuesday.

Rajaram (40) was assaulted in the farmhouse in Dwarka's Chhawla area in South West Delhi and succumbed to injuries at a hospital on Monday, they said.

The police said two FIRs have been registered based on separate complaints by one of the injured men and some locals. Five men have been arrested for alleged cow slaughter so far, while no arrest has been made in the murder and assault case.

Victim’s family denies allegations

Rajaram's family denied the allegations against him and claimed he was targeted by locals for no reason. However, according to the FIR, one of the injured associates of Rajaram said that they were called by him to kill cows for meat.

"My husband is innocent. All he did for earning extra is selling cow milk to nearby villagers and run a battery rickshaw which was taken on rent," Jhaso Devi, the wife of the deceased, claimed.

The police said that information was received that a group of men was slaughtering cows and selling the meat in the area on the intervening night of April 10 and 11.

A team was rushed to the spot, but before it could reach there, 10-15 unidentified people, claiming to be 'gau rakshaks' (cow vigilantes), reached the farmhouse and attacked those inside it, a senior police officer said.

"When we reached the spot, we found the men were being attacked. The police personnel intervened and all injured persons were taken to nearby hospitals," he said.

One case was registered under sections 429 (Mischief by killing or maiming cattle, etc., of any value or any animal of the value of fifty rupees), 120 (Concealing design to commit offence punishable with imprisonment), 120 B (criminal conspiracy), 34 (Acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention) of the Indian Penal Code and other sections of Delhi Agriculture Prevention Act and Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act.

The second case was registered on the complaint of injured worker under IPC sections 302 (murder), 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 337 (Causing hurt by act endangering life or personal safety of others), 341 (wrongful restraint), 506 (criminal intimidation) and 34 (common intention).

Five persons arrested

Shankar Chaudhary, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Dwarka) said that an incident of cow slaughter was reported and the team arrested five persons involved in the matter.

"Later, one of the accused, Shanu, alleged they were thrashed by miscreants.

"Rajaram, who was a suspect in the cow slaughtering case, was taken to a hospital but felt unwell. He was rushed to RTRM hospital where he died. We are investigating the matter and will arrest the miscreants," he said.

In the first FIR, one of the injured, who is a fruitseller by profession, alleged that he and his friends were often called by Rajaram to slaughter cows which he used to bring from his native place.

He claimed that after slaughtering the cows, they used to cut them and package the meat for sale.

The fruitseller claimed that he had worked for Rajaram before and was paid around Rs 500-1,000.

On Monday, when the caretaker along with some others was working inside the farmhouse, some unidentified men barged in and started thrashing them, police said quoting the FIR.

Rajaram and the others were taken to a hospital, but he succumbed to injuries, the officer said.

"Our teams have collected a few samples from the spot and sent them for examination. Two separate cases have also been registered in the matter and five men were arrested from the spot in a case of suspected cow slaughtering," the officer said.

Rajaram's body has been kept at RTRM hospital. Doctors said an autopsy will be conducted once a medical board is constituted.

Jhaso Devi, sitting on a wooden cot outside the two-storey dilapidated farmhouse, said her husband used to earn Rs 3,000 to Rs 4,000 per month as a caretaker.

Hailing from Bihar's Muzaffarpur district, Rajaram has four children and was living with his family at the farmhouse owned by a local doctor for last two years.

"He had been sick for over a year owing to liver-related ailment for which he was seeking treatment. He had never indulged in cow slaughter or any illegal activities," Devi told PTI.

She said her 16-year-old son is the only bread winner of the family now and had recently started working at a gaushala (cow shelter).