Police in India have arrested three people in the eastern state of Bihar in connection with the death of a Muslim man who was attacked because he was suspected of carrying beef, a police official said on Saturday.
The victim, 56-year-old Naseem Qureshi, died earlier this week after being attacked by a mob on suspicion of carrying beef, the sale and consumption of which has been banned by local governments in parts of the country. .
Cows are sacred in Hinduism, and there have been frequent attacks on those accused of killing them for their meat or leather, particularly those from minority Muslim populations or the lower castes of India’s ancient caste system. Residents on the part.
Hardline Hindu groups are demanding a complete ban on cow slaughter across India.
Since Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Hindu nationalist government came to power in 2014, self-proclaimed Hindu cow protection groups have started enforcing the law themselves.
Bihar is currently governed by a regional party, with Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party sitting in opposition.
In the latest incident in the state, the victim was allegedly surrounded and assaulted by more than twenty people, according to a police statement in court.
According to the statement, the police intervened but Qureshi died on the way to the hospital.
Bihar’s Rasoolpur police station chief Ram Chandra Tiwari said on phone that three people have been arrested.
