Days after a 45-year-old Qasim was lynched, and another injured by a mob in UP's Hapur district, another video of the incident started doing the rounds on social media.
The video shows 65-year-old Samiyuddin beaten and abused by the mob, while he pleads for mercy. The mob can be seen abusing him, even pulling his beard, and forcing him to confess he slaughtered a cow.
A panting Samayuddin can be seen bleeding profusely from his head in the video aired on television channels.
The video of the incident suggests allegations of cow slaughter as motive behind the act, even as the police refuted the charge. According to the UP police, cattle trader Qasim and Samayuddin were beaten up after the motorcyclist involved in the tiff called his friends.
"There are some rumours of a cow slaughter angle but they have not been found to be true in the investigations so far," Superintendent of Police Sankalp had then said.
The UP police issued an apology on Friday after a photograph of Qasim being dragged by a crowd in the presence of three policemen went viral on social media.
"This picture seems to have been taken when the police had reached the spot to shift the injured to the police vehicle and because of the non-availability of an ambulance at that moment, the victim was unfortunately carried this way," it said.
"Admittedly, the policemen should have been more sensitive in their conduct. The humane concerns got ignored in the urgency of saving a life and maintaining law and order. As is clear from the picture the victim was rushed to the hospital by policemen in a UP100 PRV (police van)," it added.
In Delhi, the elder brother of Samiyuddin, alleged that the UP police had not recorded the FIR in the manner wanted by his family. Mehruddin said his family was living in an "atmosphere of fear".
Mehruddin said Samayuddin had gone to the fields to collect fodder, when he saw some people were thrashing Qasim. “He was also attacked when he intervened in the matter,” he added.
He told reporters at the Press Club of India in Delhi that when family members met Samayuddin in hospital, they spotted an ink-mark on his thumb.
“The FIR has not been registered as we wished,” he said. He added the family members were scared and cannot talk much as they feared what may happen next.
But the police denied the suggestion that the family wasn't able to record its statement.
“The police are open to record the statement of Mehruddin. The police have already recorded the statement of Samayuddin's another brother Yasin, on whose complaint an FIR has been registered,” SP Sankalp said.
"As the investigation is currently underway, Mehruddin can record his statement," he told PTI.
"Later, both Qasim and Samayuddin were taken to a nearby place. We approached police, but we were initially not informed about what had happened to our brother. After five and half hours, we were told that Samayuddin was admitted to hospital," he said.
He said Samayuddin has received injuries over his entire body.
Mehruddin said the family members demanded justice and security from the police. The police assured them of this, but asked them to sign a document. His brother Yasin then signed it.
Police registered a murder case and arrested two people after the attack.
(Inputs from PTI)
