‘Cow vigilantes’ lynch MP man transporting cattle in Rajasthan

The police said the two who were attacked were from Jhabua district of Madhya Pradesh and had come to Rajasthan to buy bulls for farm work. “The deceased has been identified as Babu Bheel, 25. The other person who is injured has been identified as Pintu Bheel. Chittorgarh police have taken around eight people into custody and are questioning them. The accused will soon be identified and arrested,” said Meharda.

Preliminary investigation suggests involvement of cow vigilantes. “The two men had come to Rayta village in Chittorgarh to buy bulls, which they were taking back in a truck when they were attacked around midnight. Preliminary investigation suggests the accused were cow vigilantes. They continued to assault the two with sticks and other weapons for around an hour before the police arrived and they fled,” said Tripti Vijayvargiya, Additional SP, Chittorgarh. “Preliminary investigation suggests the bulls were bought for farm use.”

According to Bagirath Maida, Babu’s brother-in-law, the family owned eight bigha of farm land and was in need of two bulls. Babu, who worked on his own farm, would also work as a labourer in fields in Rajasthan’s Rayta village for better pay — daily wage in Rayta is Rs 200 against Rs 150 in Jhabua.

“It was in Rayta that a person who owned a farm near the one where Babu worked had agreed to sell two of his bulls to Babu,” said Bagirath.

Babu took a loan of Rs 40,000 in Jhabua and left for Rayta with Pintu (21) to buy the animals on Saturday. He was to return on Sunday. “We tried calling him on Sunday night but his cellphone was switched off. It was only on Monday that we learnt from the police that he had died,” said Bagirath.

Babu is survived by his wife, a six-year-old daughter and a three-year-old son.

Ratan Singh, Station House Officer of Begun police station in Chittorgarh district, said the two men were transporting three bulls when they were attacked.

Preliminary investigation by the police suggests the accused were cow vigilantes. “The two men had come to Rayta village in Chittorgarh to buy bulls, which they were taking back in a truck when they were attacked around midnight. Preliminary investigation suggests the accused were cow vigilantes. They continued to assault the two with sticks and other weapons for around an hour before the police arrived and they fled,” said Tripti Vijayvargiya, Additional SP, Chittorgarh.

“Preliminary investigation suggests the bulls were bought for farm use. We confirmed this with Raipuria police station in Madhya Pradesh, which has jurisdiction over the village to which the two men belong,” said Vijayvargiya. She said while Babu died during treatment, the condition of Pintu is stable.

An FIR has been registered under IPC provisions relating to murder and attempt to murder among others, she said.

—With inputs from Iram Siddique, Bhopal