Eight out of 11 arrested in connection with the lynching of a Muslim man in Uttar Pradesh’s Dadri are relatives of local BJP leader Sanjay Rana.
Rana’s son Vishal was arrested by police on Saturday for allegedly coercing the temple priest to make false announcement using the loudspeaker that a cow had been slaughtered in the village.
Of the 10 people named in FIR, seven are believed to be the relatives of Rana, says a report by Indian Express. All these accused are believed to be in the age group of 18-24.
According to the report, the homeguard constable Vinay, also allegedly involved in lynching, is a relative of Rana.
Rana has reportedly confirmed that Vishal, Shivam, Saurav, Gaurav, Sandeep, Sachin and and Vivek belonged to his family. Other three, Rupendra, Hari Om and Shri OM were his neighbour.
These men had lynched 52-year-old Akhlaq to death after they suspected he had eaten beef. Akhlaq’s son is still battling life.
His other son Sartaj is an engineer with the Indian Air Force.
While speaking to NDTV, Sarraj said on Sunday that he didn’t think every Hindu was communal. He said his family still loved India before quoting Iqbal’s famous song ‘saare jahan se achcha hindustan hamara.’
