Team Clarion
NEW DELHI – A group of cow vigilantes allegedly beat two Muslim youths to death early Friday on suspicion of smuggling cows. The incident occurred in Chhattisgarh’s Raipur.
Media reports reaching here said the bodies of Chand Miya and Guddu Khan were found floating in the Mahanadi River. Saddam Khan, another victim of the brutal assault, is critically injured and is receiving treatment in a hospital.
All three, from the Uttar Pradesh city of Saharanpur, were reportedly transporting buffaloes to Odisha in a truck.
The incident occurred in the Arang area when a group of youths noticed the truck and began following it. The mob eventually surrounded the truck on the Mahanadi bridge.
The attackers, reports said, laid spikes on the road to stop the truck before forcefully pulling out the occupants and assaulting them. In a desperate attempt to escape the violence, one of the victims jumped into the river.
Witnesses claim that the mob accused the men of cow smuggling, leading to the brutal attack.
However, the exact cause of death is still under investigation. Authorities have yet to determine whether the men died from the beating or from drowning after being forced into the river.