The National Thermal Power Corporation Limited has denied giving jobs to 15 people accused of lynching Mohammad Akhlaq in Dadri in September 2015, PTI reported on Sunday.

“NTPC Dadri management categorically denies the content of various media reports regarding contractual employment in NTPC Dadri to the accused of Akhlaq lynching case of Bisahda village, as such reports are false and baseless,” the corporation’s Dadri plant said in a statement.

On Saturday, media reports had claimed that the 15 of the accused had got contractual jobs after Dadri’s Bharatiya Janata Party MLA Tejpal Nagar met senior NTPC officials on October 9 to enable their recruitment. All the accused are out on bail. Akhlaq was attacked and killed after allegations that he had stored beef in his house.

“Yes, we have agreed to give jobs to unemployed youths of Bishahra,” an unidentified NTPC spokesperson had told The Hindu on Saturday. “It has nothing to do with Akhlaq’s lynching. Contractual jobs have been offered to many residents of Bishahra village because it is the NTPC’s policy to give jobs to all project-affected persons based on their qualification and expertise.”