Four Muslim men were brutally beaten with iron rods by a Hindutva gang in Uttar Pradesh’s Aligarh district on Saturday, May 24, who accused them of transporting beef. The incident reportedly took place in the Harduaganj area. A police officer was present at that time.
The four men have been identified as Arbaz, Aqeel, Kadim, and Munna Khan, all residents of the Atrauli town in Aligarh.
Salim Khan, whose son Aqeel was one of the injured, stated in his police complaint that the four men were returning to Atrauli after picking meat from Al-Ammar frozen foods meat factory.
At around 8:30 pm, the vehicle was stopped near the Harduaganj police station by the Hindutva gang led by Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) leader Rajkumar Arya and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Arjun Singh, who claimed beef was being transported.
The group allegedly demanded Rs 50,000/- to let them pass. Irked, Aqeel and his cousin refused to pay the money, Salim’s complaint states.
Furious at being refused, the Hindutva gang dragged all four men from the vehicle, tore their clothes and started beating them. They threw the meat on the road, vandalised the vehicle, overturned it and set it on fire.
Videos of the Muslim men, stripped to the waist, slapped and attacked with bricks and iron rods have surfaced online. They begged the group to let them go, but their pleas were met with deaf ears. A police officer is also seen in the video, who stands as a mute spectator.
Upon information, the Harduaganj police reached the spot and admitted the grievously injured men to the Deen Dayal Upadhyay Hospital. Three out of the four men are said to be in critical condition.
Based on Salim Khan’s complaint, police registered a case under multiple sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, including Sections 191(2) (rioting), 191(3) (rioting with a deadly weapon), 190 (every member of an unlawful group is responsible for the crime), 109 (attempt to murder), 308(5) (extortion by issuing death threats), 310(2) (dacoity), and 3(5) (joint criminal liability of an unlawful violent assembly). First Information Reports (FIRs) have been lodged against 13 persons, including Rajkumar Arya and Arjun Singh, along with an additional 20-25 unknown individuals.
Counter FIR against victims
A counter FIR has also been filed against the four men by Vijay Bajrangi under Section 3, 5, and 8 of the Uttar Pradesh Prevention of Cow Slaughter Act, 1955.
Bajrangi alleges that the four Muslim men were cow smugglers and were transporting beef. His complaint states that when the driver attempted to mow him down, the vehicle overturned.
Bajrangi’s FIR alleges that the “cow smugglers” initially attacked the villagers. However, after reports of cow carcasses emerged, the men were cornered and allegedly offered to pay a bribe of Rs 3 lakh to the police.
His complaint further states that the same vehicle had been caught 15 days earlier but was released due to police involvement. At the time, officers reportedly said the vehicle was carrying buffalo meat and that the men had valid documentation.
Not beef but buffalo meat
Fact-checker Mohammad Zubair shared documents related to Al-Ammar Frozen Foods, including its Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) registration and other official certificates, highlighting that the company is registered as a buffalo meat exporter.
He also posted an image of the factory’s gate pass, which lists “buffalo bone-in meat” in the description column. The gate pass matches the FIR details in terms of timing and vehicle number, and appears to bear the signature of Kadim, one of the four victims..
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