Ahmedabad: Man dies after allegedly being thrashed by gau rakshaks

Ahmedabad: Four days after he was allegedly assaulted by cow vigilantes in Ahmedabad’s Anandnagar for transporting two calves in his car, 29-year-old Mohammad Ayyub succumbed to his injuries on Friday.

According to Indian Express, Ayyub and his friend Samir Sheikh were transporting two calves, when they were allegedly chased by cow vigilantes.

“They chased us and hit the car from behind near Honest circle at S G Highway,” Sameer Sheikh reportedly told police, but the police doubt his story and claim that it is highly ‘unreliable’ and ‘he has cooked up a story’, pointing out that the CCTV footages showed nothing suspicious.

Both Ayyub and Shaikh were also thrashed by the ‘gau rakshaks’ after the accident.

Confirming the incident, Joint Commissioner of Police Rajiv Ranjan said, “Some unidentified people had beaten Mohammed Ayyub (deceased) and Samir Shaikh before they were taken into police custody and admitted to the hospital.”

The officer further revealed that the two calves were discovered stuffed in the car by passers-by, and added that officials from the fire department had to cut open the car from behind to take out the animals. One of the calves also died in the accident.

While Ayyub’s brother Imran has claimed that his brother was indeed thrashed by cow vigilantes, VHP city president Rajubhai Patel alleges that the gau rakshaks were being falsely implicated.

Meanwhile, state DCP said, “We have found that Ayyub and Shaikh were coming from Mehsana with two calves hidden in the back of their car. Shaikh told us that he had taken a lift from Ayyub from somewhere near Adalaj, but his call detail records showed that both were in touch over phone. In fact, phone data has confirmed Shaikh’s presence right from Mehsana from where they were coming till the scene of the offence.”

She also added that on analysis of CCTV footages made available from nine major traffic junctions, there was nothing suspicious.