- A day after the incident cops registered a case against five attackers acting on the complaint of family members of the victim

- Victim's 14-year-old daughter shares her ordeal, says, Shubham Bhaiya put some suspicious bag in our auto

- Sister of another victim says, Shubham hates my brother as he has Muslim friends

Manish Chandra Mishra

Seoni, Madhya Pradesh.

Just a day before Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Bharatiya Janata Party returned to power after registering a resounding victory, another mob attack took place in the state of Madhya Pradesh where BJP won 28 out of total 29 Lok Sabha seats.

A video that went viral on social media showed five men kicking and beating three people with sticks. The video also shows one of the victims being forced to beat the woman victim with chappal while being asked to shout ‘Jai Shri Ram’ by the attackers.

Surprisingly the main accused behind the attack – Shubham Singh -- is member of a Hindu fringe group called Hindu Sena and has previously been seen in pictures with the newly elected BJP Member of Parliament from Bhopal – Sadhvi Pragya Thakur.

In a sensational incident of mob attack in Seoni, police turned victims into accused and sent them to jail. On May 22, three people including a woman were beaten up for allegedly possessing beef. The incident took place under Dunda village police station of Seoni district. The accused also recorded the entire incident on their mobile-phones and later uploaded it on Facebook from where the video went viral. The three victims of attack --- Dilip Malvi (24), Anjum alias Sama Ansari (30) and Taushif Khan (24) -- were booked for allegedly carrying 140 KG beef. The trio was produced before a court from where they were sent to judicial remand.

A day after the incident members from victims' family approached the police with the complaint and video evidence after which the cops registered a case against the accused. The five accused Shubham Singh (25), Yogesh Uike (19), Deepesh Namdev (31), Rohit Yadav (21) and Kuwarlal Daheria (43) were booked for beating them up and detained by cops.

All five were produced before a local court on Saturday which sent them to judicial remand. 

Victims sent behind the bars

Lalit Sakyawar, Superintendent of Police Seoni, says, "Earlier the police came to know that three people are transporting flesh which is suspected to be beef were held by locals. Police registered a complaint against the accused and recovered a huge consignment of 140 KG meet. They were booked under section 4, 5 and 9 of Madhya Pradesh Govansh Vadh Pratishedh Adhiniyam (Anti cow slaughter law). A day after this incident we came to know that some people have uploaded a video on social media in which they are beating up the three accused. We got a complaint from the accused family and acting on that we detained five people and registered a case against them under relevant sections."

"Police have taken prompt action and tried to take off the video from social media. The condition of law and order is under control in the area." Sakyawar adds.

“Police have also recovered an air gun from the car of Shubham Singh, the prime accused and apart from section 341, 294, 323, 147, 148, 149, 327 and 354 of IPC, police also imposed section 25 of arms act for possessing illegal arms,” says Dinesh Kumar Dubey, station in-charge of Dunda village police station.

Assistant Superintendent of Police GP Khandel says that cops have found 100 KG flesh in an auto and rest 40 kg in a Honda Activa scooter. Police have dumped 140 KG of meat in a pit and send the samples to Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) Hyderabad for further inspection. It will take three to four months to get the report.

Shubham put a bag in our auto: Anjum’s daughter

Sharing her ordeal, Anjum's 14-year-old daughter (name withheld) says, “We were coming from Bhome village in an auto rickshaw. Shubham Bhaiya waylaid us with his car and stopped the rickshaw. They started beating Dilip Bhaiya with their friends. I think they had some old rivalry. When Shubham Bhaiya come to know that we are Muslims they dragged my mother by her hair and forced Dilil Bhaiya to beat her and shout ‘Jai Shri Ram’. Shubham Bhaiya's mother asked the mob to bury us by JCB machine. I was very scared and fled the spot. I don't know what happened after that. My mother is in jail now.”

The girl also says that Shubham had put a bag in their auto.

The daughter who studies in 9th standard says, “I reside with my mother and two other sisters. Our Abbu (father) had left us 18 months ago due to some issues with my mother. My mother works as a domestic help. We do not have money to hire a lawyer and that's why we are not able to fight for my mother.”

Shubham is an Islamophobic, eve teaser: Victim’s sister

The story of hate crime comes to fore after we talked to Dilip’s sister Manisha Malvi. Dilip is one of the victims in Wednesday’s attack and his sister Manisha has filed a complaint in police station. "This is not the first time when Shubham Singh beaten up my brother. He had beaten up Dilip four months ago too, but they threatened our family not to register a police complaint. He does not like my brother as he has Muslim friends," Manisha says.

According to Manisha, Dilip was driving a four-wheeler (Commander jeep) earlier but after a clash with Shubham, his mother asked him to stop driving and help her in her business of ironing clothes.

Talking about the background of incident, she says, "We have three members in family -- my mother, brother and me. my father passed away 18 years ago. Shubham often comes to our locality and teases girls and threatens other youth. He was not happy with my brother as he has many Muslim friends. Anjum also resides near our house. On the day of the incident, my brother Dilip was coming home after attending a wedding ceremony with Anjum and Taushif. Shubham waylaid them and forced Dilip to beat Anjum and shout ‘Jai Shri Ram’.”

Manisha also alleged that the story of beef is made up by Shubham as he hates Muslims and wants to teach them a lesson for befriending Hindus.

‘My brother is almost killed’

Manisha says, “I saw the video on Facebook. He was brutally beaten up by Shubham and they also forced him to beat Anjum. I went to meet them at court where I see that condition of Taushif is very critical. I advised police to send my brother and Taushif to Nagpur for better treatment, but police shouted at me and ask to keep quiet. Anjum is our neighbor and all three of them are good friends."

“Shubham has a bad track record of crime but her mother is supporting him a lot. She was shouting in the police station and asking the police to bury my brother with Taushif and Anjum. She also offered money to police for doing this,” Manisha adds.  

‘Bhagwa Gamcha and mobile-phones’

Eyewitnesses to the incident say they were asked not to gather there and were even forced to leave the place by the people who were beating up Dilip.

Atique Khan, one of the eyewitnesses of the incident says, “The incident took place in the morning. I saw some people were beating up a boy when I was going to my field. The persons were had Bhagwa Gancha around their shoulders and necks and they were also shooting video by mobile. I tried to stop them, but they were so many in numbers. They asked us not to involve in this matter. They forcefully disperse people gathered there. After half an hour police come to the spot."