Ten people have been detained and prohibitory orders have been imposed in a village in Jharkhand’s Giridh district after a mob of more than 100 people attacked a Muslim dairy farmer on suspicion that he had slaughtered a cow. They beat up Usman Ansari and set part of his house in Beria Hatiatand village on fire after finding the carcass of a cow outside it.

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Jharkhand Inspector General of Police (Headquarters) Ashish Batra told PTI that the matter was under investigation and a case has been registered at the Deori Police Station.

The cow had died of illness, the police said earlier in the day. Even before Ansari could dispose of the carcass, some mischief-maker had slit the cow’s throat to create an impression that he had killed it. “The police struggled for more than two hours to rescue Ansari and his family members,” said Jharkhand Police Spokesperson and ADG (Operations) RK Mullik. “When the police tried to take him to hospital, there was resistance from the crowd. There was heavy stone-pelting. We had to open fire in the air.”

On June 18, Jharkhand Police had arrested a school principal and her aide following allegations that she had hurt religious sentiments by consuming beef within the institute’s premises in Pakur district. An angry mob had lynched three Muslim cattle traders allegedly over child-lifting rumours in a Jharkhand village on May 18.

A citizens’ protest, titled Not In My Name, was held at Delhi’s Jantar Mantar and other places across India on Wednesday to demonstrate against the “targeted lynching” and assaults.