While stabbing him, an angry Malik allegedly shouted, “Tumhari government beef ban karti hai, toh yeh lo (Your government bans beef, so you suffer).”
Written by Rashmi Rajput | Mumbai | Published:October 21, 2015 1:29 am
The Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) is on the lookout for a local priest from Yavatmal district suspecting that he might have instigated a youth to stab a constable in a bid to register protest against the beef ban imposed by the state government.
The incident took place on September 25 this year, on the day of Bakr-id, when Abdul Malik (20), an unemployed youth from Pusad village in Yavatmal, repeatedly stabbed a constable after offering namaz at a local mosque. The constable was on duty, posted outside the mosque. He survived the attack.
While stabbing him, an angry Malik allegedly shouted, “Tumhari government beef ban karti hai, toh yeh lo (Your government bans beef, so you suffer).” Malik allegedly also attacked two more constables who tried to intervene. Subsequently, Malik was overpowered by the constables and they seized his knife.
Malik was immediately arrested by the local police and was slapped with a case of attempt to murder. Two days after his arrest, suspecting a larger angle of radicalisation at play, the state’s counter terrorism agency stepped in and took his custody. The agency is now probing if Malik had any accomplice and if more people have been radicalised by his handler, suspected to be a local maulana (priest).