In a tragic incident in Gujarat’s Banaskantha district, a 40-year-old Muslim man, Mishrikhan Baloch, was allegedly beaten to death by a group of five men claiming to be cow vigilantes. The incident took place on May 23 when Baloch was transporting two buffaloes to a livestock market in a pickup van.
According to reports, Baloch was accompanied by another man, Hussainkhan Baloch, who managed to escape and subsequently filed the complaint. The police have registered a case against the accused under various sections related to murder, unlawful restraint, rioting, and rioting with deadly weapons.
The Indian Express reported that one of the accused, AkherajsinghParbatsingh Vaghela, was previously implicated in another cow vigilante-related violence case last July and had served time in jail. The Gujarat High Court had previously overturned Vaghela’s custody in that case.
Authorities have arrested two of the five suspects and are searching for the remaining three. However, local police have denied that Baloch’s death was a result of mob lynching, asserting that the incident stemmed from a longstanding dispute between the parties involved.
This incident raises concerns about the enforcement of a 2018 Supreme Court ruling, which mandated state governments to implement preventive and remedial measures to curb mob violence.