Jharkhand court on Wednesday sentenced 11 convicts, including a BJP worker, to life imprisonment for lynching a 55-year-old man in Ramgarh on the suspicion of carrying beef.
They had beaten Asgar Ansari to death and set his vehicle on fire in June 2017 when they suspected him of carrying beef in his van. Days before the attack, two of the accused had raised the issue of Ansari being involved in the illegal trade of beef at a peace meeting held by Ramgarh police.
On March 17, the fast track court found the 11 men guilty under Section 120B in the Indian penal code indicating that the attack was pre-planned.
Three of these men are members of a local cow protection committee, according to reports. They are convicted in other charges as well in addition to this. According to a repors, this is the first time there has been a conviction in case of cow vigilantism.
The accused are Nityanand Mahato, of the BJP media cell, Vicky Saw, Sikander Ram, Vikram Prasad, Raju Kumar, Rohit Thakur, Kapil Thakur and Uttam Kumar were convicted under IPC sections 302 (murder), 147 (rioting), 148 (rioting with deadly weapon), 149 (unlawful assembly), 427 (mischief causing damage) and 435 (mischief by fire), Indian Express reported.
On June 29, last year, Raj Kumar had followed Asgar Ansari while he was in constant touch with Mishra and another main accused Chhotu Verma, according to Indian Express. Mishra and Verma both had connections with gau rakshak samiti had surrendered to the police on July 3.
They all chose a common point which was notified to them. They met at a spot near Bazar Tand and started beating him and did not stop till he died. They then set his vehicle on fire. Police told Express that the murder of Ansari was well planned.
