NEW DELHI: The much talked about Dadri lynching case has taken a new turn with the revelation of the new forensic report by the Uttar Pradesh veterinary department. The report stated that the meat found at Mohmmad Akhlaq was of cow’s meat.
The timing of the report assumes significance as the state’s assembly polls are just round the corner and the report could change the political dynamics in the communally sensitive state. Beef eating is not a crime in Uttar Pradesh, only cow slaughter is.
On September 28, 2015, 52 year old Akhlaq and his son Danish were dragged out of their home and bludgeoned by a group of around 200 locals based on a rumor that he slaughtered a cow and was storing beef in his fridge. The incident took place in Bisara village at Dadri, in Gautam Buddh Nagar which had triggered massive outrage across the country, with politicians, activist decending on the village to console the bereaved family.
Few made controversial statements. The elder son of Akhlaq Mohmad Sartaz who was not present n the house on the unfortunate day is a Corporal in the Indian Army posted in Chennai.
The new lab report which is attested by Joint Director forensic investigation laboratory UP University of Veterinary Sciences and Animal Husbandry reads, “On the basis of chemical analysis the sample belongs to Cow and its progeny”. The sample was analysed on October 3, 2015.
“We take action on the basis of information we receive. As per the law only transporting, slaughtering and selling of cow meat is banned. The documents released now do say it was cow meat stored in the deceased house but this is no ground to take the law of the land into your own hands. If someone had an objection to they should have come to us, if one slaps another person, in return that person cannot shoot him dead and call it self defence” Anurag Singh Circle Officer Dadri told Express.
The report was made available on Tuesday following the orders of a fast track court which allowed the lawyers of the suspects to get a copy of the forensic report of the meat recovered from his fridge.
Akhlaq’s son Sartaz told Express that “This revelation has only come to politicize the issue in Uttar Pradesh. This report cannot be authentic as the court had given clear directions that any documents related to the case will not be made public till the charges have been framed. The meat is now revealed as beef as earlier reports stated that it was mutton but this is new report that is not yet confirmed must be wrong.”
The meat in Akhlaq's home was initially examined by a veterinary doctor in Dadri, whose analysis that it was mutton reinforced conspiracy theories, with the state's Samajwadi Party alleging deliberate attempts to polarize the region. The meat samples were sent for a final assessment to a government lab in Mathura, which has now concluded that it was beef.
15 people are presently behind bars suspecting involvement in the brutal murder. This includes son and nephew of a local BJP leader Sanjay Rana for his alleged involvement in Akhlaq's lynching.