Godda: Two Muslim men were allegedly lynched by a group of villagers on suspicion of cattle theft in Jharkhand’s Godda district, police said on June 13.

DIG (Santal Paragana) Akhilesh Kumar Jha said five people had allegedly stolen buffaloes from the house of Munshi Murmu and others in tribal-dominated Dullu village the previous night.

Finding the buffaloes missing, Murmu and other villagers chased five people, who were caught in adjoining Bankati village with the cattle in the early hours.

The enraged villagers thrashed Sirabuddin Ansari, 35, and Murtaza Ansari,30, to death.

The three others managed to flee, Jha said.

Four persons, including Murmu, have been arrested in this connection so far.

The victims were residents of Taljhari in the district, about 200 km from Ranchi, Superintendent of Police Rajeev Ranjan Singh said.

Adequate police force, along with a magistrate, had been deployed in the village to maintain law and order, Jha said.

The situation in the village was under control, the officer said.

The SP, who rushed to the spot, said according to the villagers, the five people had stolen 13 buffaloes.

After lynching the duo, the accused villagers brought the bodies back to Dullu village on bi-cycles, the SP said.

Singh, who is camping in the village, said the stolen cattle had been recovered.

A theft case was registered based on a complaint by the villagers.

The incident was a simple case of theft, Singh said.

The BJP-ruled Jharkhand has earned notoriety in the last couple of years for lynching over suspicion of beef, cattle theft or child lifting. More than a dozen people, mostly from the minority community, have been lynched in the state.

In March this year, a fast-track court in Ramgarh district awarded life sentence to 11 people including a local BJP leader for lynching meat trader Alimuddin Ansari in June 2017.

In April, a court in Bokaro district awarded life sentence to 10 persons for lynching one Shamsuddin Ansari in April last year over suspicion of child lifting.

In Latehar district, two Muslims, including a minor, were lynched and their bodies were hanged to a tree in March 2016. They were carrying their cattle to a village market place. The case is in pending in the court.

This Sunday night, two cleric brothers were brutally assaulted by a group of people when they were returning home after offering Travih prayers in Ranchi. They were allegedly stopped by the group when they were going home on bike around 10 PM. They allegedly asked the two to chant Jai Shri Ram and when they refused to chant, they were mercilessly assaulted. One of the clerics, Maulana Azharul Islam received serious head injuries

(Source: newindianexpress.com)