A trader taking cattle to sell at a weekly market in Bengal has been lynched in Bihar’s Katihar district.
Cattle trader Muhammad Jamal was attacked late on Monday night on Labha bridge by a group while he was driving around a dozen cows and bullocks on foot towards a weekly market in Malda.
The crowd claimed Jamal’s cattle had hit a motorcycle belonging to one of their members and started thrashing him, sources said. Jamal tried to escape but fell and was beaten to death, they said.
Jamal was accompanied by his brother Muhammad Kamal and two others, who managed to escape.
They informed their family members who, along with other villagers, arrived at the spot and protested by blocking a road for several hours on Tuesday.
Police said the murder was the result of personal enmity. “One Liladhar Yadav, who was previously engaged in cattle trade and had enmity with Jamal, is involved in the incident. He, along with his associates, thrashed Jamal to death on the pretext that a motorcycle belonging to them was hit by the cattle,” Katihar SP Vikash Kumar told The Telegraph.
The SP added that the FIR registered by Jamal’s brother had named Liladhar, two of his brothers and their father as the prime accused.
The officer said the cows and bullocks were rescued from the assailants who were taking them to Bengal to sell. But the police had not arrested any suspect till Tuesday evening.
