BHOPAL: Two Gond tribe men were lynched by a mob of 20 over allegation of cow slaughter in tribal-dominated Seoni district of Madhya Pradesh early on Tuesday. A tribal youth who tried to save the duo, too, was attacked by the assailants. The attackers allegedly assaulted and molested the wife of one of the deceased men, when she tried to save her husband.
Enraged over the lynching of the men, who were aged around 50 and 60 years, a large number of tribals blocked national highways in Seoni. Leading the tribals was local Congress MLA Arjun Singh Kakodiya, who alleged the assailants were Bajrang Dal men. He demanded bulldozing of the houses of the accused and also sought ban on Bajrang Dal.
However, the Seoni Police sources claimed that primary probe suggested the accused were associated with a far-right outfit, Ram Sena. “A case of murder and rioting has been lodged against six identified persons and 11-12 unidentified men. Six of the accused have been arrested,” SP Seoni Kumar Prateek told this news paper. The shocking incident happened between 2 am and 3 am in Simiriya village, when some persons assaulted the men alleging that they were found possessing beef.