NEW DELHI, Dec 10: The Indian government on Monday gave a chilling account of how five low-caste Hindus in a north Indian village were lynched by an angry mob of thousands on false charges of cow slaughter, which is banned in the country.

The incident occurred while the five men were in police custody.

Giving a statement in the lower house of parliament, Junior Home Minister I.D. Swami said the gory incident occurred on Oct 15, on the Hindu festival day of Dussera, when the five were travelling between the towns of Farukh Nagar and Karnal, in Haryana state.

The men were carrying 228 hides — 34 cow hides, two sheep hides and 192 buffalo hides — and a dead cow in a vehicle.

The dead cow, a stray which had died, was purchased from a hide contractor in Farukh Nagar for 200 rupees.

En route, they stopped along the highway and began skinning the cow.

“It was around 6.30pm and the people of adjoining villages were returning home after attending Dussera celebrations in Jhajjar town,” the minister said.

“Seeing the deceased persons skinning the cow, the public thought that cow slaughter was being carried out openly. About 50-60 persons gathered there and gave severe beating to all the five.”

The mob then took the men to a police post at Dulina where they filed a complaint and a case was registered against the five.

However, police, after making preliminary inquiries, told the public that it was not a case of cow slaughter.

But the villagers did not listen and despite later verification by police that the cow was bought dead by the victims a crowd gathered.

“People in thousands armed with sticks gathered there and blocked the main road,” the minister said.

Senior police and administration officials also reached the spot.

“However, the mob swelled further and became violent. They started pelting stones on the police personnel. Many police and civil officers received injuries. They tried to pacify them but they did not listen to reason. The police resorted to caning but that was of no avail.”

The mob set fire to the vehicle full of hides and also a hut near the police post.

“They tried to set the police post on fire. They also tried to break open the iron grills of the police post in order to catch hold of the deceased persons,” the minister said.

The mob out-numbered the police and it was already dark. The magistrates and police officers present on the spot decided not to resort to firing for fear of making the situation even worse.

“Suddenly, a violent group of hooligans armed with iron rods and other deadly weapons reached there and pushed the police personnel and magistrates aside and broke open the door of the police post,” Swami said.

“They attacked all the five alleged cow slaughterers with iron rods, sticks, stones and brick-bats etc. and took them out on the main road. There, they beat them to death. They threw two dead bodies in the hut which was already on fire.”

A case was filed and an investigation is ongoing.

“Post mortem of the cow was also conducted in which it was established that the cow died at least 24 hours before the incident,” the minister said.

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