New Delhi: Angered by the performance of Muslim men in a cricket tournament, Hindu locals of a Gujarat village on June 22 beat a Muslim spectator at a match to death, The Quint has reported.
Twenty-three year-old Salman Vohra was a resident of Polson compound in Gujarat’s Anand and worked in the garment business. A cricket fan, Vohra had gone to watch a match at Chikhodra, his uncle Noman Anwar Vohra told the news outlet.
There had been tension in the atmosphere over pro-Hindutva residents’ opposition to Muslim players doing well in the tournament.
“When they were playing, a section of the crowd began shouting ‘Jai Shri Ram’,” an activist, Aasim Khedawala, told Quint.
The match drew a crowd of 5,000 people but Muslims were not more than 500 in number. A drunk man picked a fight with Vohra over where his motorcycle was parked.
“The one who was drunk mistook another Muslim man, Suhail to be Salman [Vohra] and began attacking him. In order to save Suhail from these men, Salman jumped in and the mob surrounded him,” the report said.
A crowd reportedly gathered and chanted in favour of hitting Vohra. His uncle noted that the attackers almost bit his ear off, that a knife wound had damaged his kidney and beaten on his lower waist and neck. He was taken to a hospital for treatment and then referred to a bigger one. He succumbed to his injuries at the second hospital.
Vohra’s wife Mashira is a few weeks pregnant.
Two other Muslim men were also grievously injured, one had to receive 17 stitches and the other, around seven. Maktoob Media has noted that this is the sixth such lynching since June 4.
The family filed a first information report at 4 am on June 23 at the Anand Rural police station.
Nine people have been arrested. They are Mehul Dinesh Parmar, Kiran Mafat Parmar, Mahendra Ramesh Vaghela, Ketan Mahendra Patel, Akshay Narsinh Parmar,Ratilala Raising Parmar, Vijay Mangal Parmar, Mukesh Rajesh Parmar, Rakesh Babu Parmar, Vijay Chhagan Parmarand Ketan Bharat Parmar.
People who spoke to The Quint said that two of the main men who beat him up have not been arrested yet.
Hyderabad member of parliament Asaduddin Owaisi has posted on X the claim that “[s]ome members of the Kshatriya community are reportedly pressurising the police to remove the name of Shakti Singh from the list of accused. He is also a relative of a BJP MLA…”.
Salman Vohra was brutally lynched as a crowd watched and cheered the murderers. Some members of the Kshatriya community are reportedly pressurising the police to remove the name of Shakti Singh from the list of accused. He is also a relative of a BJP MLA. I spoke to Salman’s…
— Asaduddin Owaisi (@asadowaisi) June 30, 2024
