Eleven cow vigilantes, including a BJP leader, accused of lynching a Muslim meat trader in Jharkhand in June last year were convicted by a fast track court in Ramgarh on Wednesday and awarded life terms.
The court is yet to decide on a twelfth accused, who is a juvenile.
Judge Om Prakash had found them guilty on March 16 under IPC sections 147 (rioting), 148 (rioting with deadly weapons), 149 (unlawful assembly), 435 (mischief by fire or explosive substance) and 302 (murder).
Mohammad Allimuddin, a meat trader and resident of Hazaribagh district in Jharkhand, was beaten to death by a mob in Ramgarh on suspicion that he was carrying beef in his vehicle on June 29 last year. Significantly, the incident took place just hours after Prime Minister Narendra Modi condemned killings in the name of cow protection.
The mob had surrounded his van bearing a West Bengal number plate at the Bazaar Tand area of Ramgarh. They dragged Allimuddin, 40, out of the vehicle and thrashed him. The police rushed to the spot and took Allimuddin to a hospital, where he was declared brought dead. The mob had also set the vehicle on fire.
Forensic tests later confirmed that the meat he was carrying was beef, the sale of which is banned in the state.
Additional Public Prosecutor S K Sukla said there were 12 accused and one of them was a minor. The prosecution has moved the Juvenile Justice Board with a prayer that the minor be treated as an adult in the case, Sukla said.
The prosecution lawyer who had prayed for capital punishment describing the offence as the 'rarest of rare', later claimed that the punishment was the first in the country involving cow vigilantes.
Ansari's widow Mariyam Khatoon lodged a complaint against 17 people and a charge sheet was filed on September 17 against 12 people.
BJP district media in-charge Nityanand Mahto was among the 11 convicted persons.
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