Balasore horror: Cow vigilantes who ‘lynched’ Makandar Mohammad were known to him – Alt News

Trigger Warning: Graphic Visuals of Violence

It was a stroke of bad luck that brought 35-year-old Sheikh Makandar Mohammad face to face with the miscreants who lynched him on January 14 in Odisha’s Balasore district, the victim’s brother told Alt News on Saturday.

“Makandar, my cousin, worked as a mason. On the Makar Sankranti day, he agreed to help a local van driver who was transporting cattle, because no one else was available. The driver asked for his help and he agreed,” Jitendar Mohammad said.

“On the way, the van was stopped and Makandar was assaulted because of his Muslim identity. The people who attacked them were not strangers. They were people Makandar knew and recognized. They used to see him often when he would go to work,” he added.

The murderous assault occurred in the early hours of January 14 when a pickup van carrying cattle, which was travelling from the Jayadeva Kasba area in Balasore, was intercepted by a group. Makandar, a resident of Astia village in Balasore Sadar block, and the driver of the van were brutally assaulted. The two were taken to the Balasore district headquarters hospital, where Makandar succumbed to his injuries on the same day.

Makandar is survived by his wife and three children.

A video of the assault that has gone viral shows Makandar Mohammad on the ground, delirious from the assault, surrounded by men with thick wooden sticks. Makandar is hit with the sticks and told to chant ‘Jai Sri Ram’ and ‘Gau Mata is my mother’. He complies and repeats the chants after the stick-wielding men.

First FIR had No Mention of Assault

After the incident, an FIR was filed at the Sadar police station in Balasore based on a complaint of a sub-inspector. The FIR mentioned that the cattle-laden pickup van was being driven in a rash and negligent manner, and it lost balance and overturned. It also mentioned that by the time the police reached the spot, the driver had already been shifted to a hospital and a cow was found at the site.

The FIR had no mention of any assault. It named the driver and the owner of the van, who were booked under various sections of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, the Orissa Prevention of Cow Slaughter Act, and the Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita.

An Indian Express report quoted the FIR as stating, “The cow was seized and brought to the Maa Bharati Goshala, and the pickup vehicle was brought to the police station. The complainant submitted a written report for taking legal action against the owner and driver of the pickup van.”

However, Jitendar Mohammad, cousin of the deceased, filed another complaint on the evening of January 14. The complaint accused five individuals of stopping the van and brutally assaulting his brother with sharp weapons. Based on this complaint, an FIR was registered under section 103(2) of the BNS.

Alt News accessed a copy of the complaint submitted by Jitendar at Sadar police station. In the two-page complaint written in Odia, Jitendar detailed the brutal assault inflicted on Makandar. He wrote that his brother was abused, beaten up and attacked with sharp weapons like sickles, naming five people behind the assault — Bapu Nanna, Pawan, Pintu, Nepali and Chinu. They have been accused of murdering Makandar Mohammad.

On Saturday, Jitendar told Alt News, “We were informed by police only after my brother had been taken to the hospital. There I saw him and spoke to him. He could barely speak, and within 10-15 minutes, he passed away. He had grievous wounds all over his body — on his head, arms, legs, and face, everywhere. There were bandages and stitches on almost every part of his body. He told me that a group of 5-8 people ambushed their van and started beating them up”.

“It is Makandar who told me the names of his assailants, lying on his hospital bed”, Jitendar added.

“We later saw videos of the assault and realised what inhuman torture he had been subjected to. They forced him to shout Hindu religious chants. It is clear that he was attacked because of his Muslim identity,” he further added.

Sheikh Ahsan Mohammad, another cousin of Makandar, confirmed to Alt News that the accused were known to Makandar. “Makandar and the assailants were not on talking terms, but they knew each other. He could recognise them. They were gau rakshaks affiliated to the Right wing”, Ahsan pointed out.

Ahsan shared footage of the assault with Alt News that are not in the public domain. One such video shows the attackers abusing Makandar in Odia and raining blows on him with rods and sticks. A hapless Makandar keeps pleading with them, but to no effect.

The video is embedded below. Viewer discretion is advised.

Speaking to Alt News, Balasore SP Pratyush Diwakar said on Friday that all five accused had been detained. Police had ascertained the presence of three of them at the crime spot. These three individuals had been arrested and forwarded to court. They were Saroj Kumar Behera alias Pintu (25), son of Hrushikesh Behera, and resident of Puruna Balasore; Chinmay Kumar Das alias Chinu (29), son of Kartik Chandra Das, resident of Sargaon and Sagar Mohalik alias Chandu (22), son of Anadi Mohalik, resident of Harsapura.

He said investigation was on to find out if more people were involved.

When asked if the attack on Makandar was communally motivated, the SP said it could not be ascertained at the moment. He also declined to comment on why the initial FIR lodged by police did not mention the assault.

The Bajrang Dal Connection

After the five accused were detained, Bajrang Dal sat on a protest outside the office of Balasore SP on January 16 and claimed that their ‘gau raksha’ head, Pawan bhai, and four of his associates, who were gau rakshaks, had been detained by the police without any evidence. A member of the Bajrang Dal Balasore says in a video that ‘cow protectors’ were being constantly targeted and implicated in crimes they had no involvement in. He demands that the police provide evidence of the involvement of those who were detained.

A video was also posted on Bajrang Dal Balasore’s official Instagram page. The caption read, “Jai Sri Ram. Yesterday, in Sunduri of Balasore, a Muslim youth died due to a cow cart overturning. Because of this incident, our Gau Suraksha (cow protection) head, Paban bhai, has been picked up by the police without any reason”.

Upon taking a look at Paban’s profile — his full name is Paban Kumar Bhoi — we came across a post listing out the names of different members of Bajrang Dal Balasore. Paban Bhoi was named as the ‘Gau Suraksha Head’ (cow protection head).

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