Delhi: man lynched on suspicion slaughtering cows, selling beef

A caretaker in a Delhi farmhouse was lynched and three people were injured after a group of 10-15 men, claiming to be 'gau rakshaks', attacked them on suspicion that they were slaughtering cows, police said on Tuesday.

Rajaram (40), who worked as a caretaker at the farmhouse in Dwarka’s Chhawla area, was killed in the incident on Monday, they said.

Information was received that a group of men were slaughtering cows and selling the meat in the area, police said.

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

Two FIRs have been registered in the case, he said.

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

He said that after slaughtering the cows, they used to cut it into pieces and then package the meat for sale.

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.

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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 it for examination. Two separate cases have also been registered in the matter and five men were arrested from the spot," the officer said.

The other FIR, police said, has been registered under sections pertaining to cow slaughter.