A hotel owner and his minor son were allegedly assaulted by a group of Hindutva workers in Bihar’s Purnea after being falsely accused of serving cow and buffalo meat.
The incident took place on June 14 in the Gokulpur area under K Nagar Police Station, but videos of the assault surfaced on social media days later, triggering outrage.
According to the complaint, the attackers were allegedly led by local strongman Abhijeet Kumar Yadav.
Viral Video Shows Public Humiliation
Videos circulating online showed the hotel owner, identified as Mohammad Tajammul, and his son being beaten with bamboo sticks, chairs, and other objects.
In one clip, the attackers can be heard accusing the family of selling beef and demanding answers about the contents of the hotel refrigerator.
“Kya tha fridge me sach sach bolo?” one of them is heard asking.
The father and son were also allegedly forced to hold their ears, do sit-ups, and publicly apologise. In another video, the hotel owner was seen touching the feet of the attackers, pleading with them to stop.
A younger child present at the spot was also allegedly mishandled.
Dispute Started Over Unpaid Bill, Says Victim
According to Tajammul, the real issue had nothing to do with beef.
He said five men had come to his hotel, eaten mutton and rice, but refused to pay the bill.
“When I asked for payment, they started recording videos and falsely accused us of selling beef,” Tajammul said.
He alleged that after the assault, his family became so frightened that they were forced to leave the hotel premises.
Police Find No Beef During Investigation
After the videos went viral, Sweety Sahrawat said a police team was formed to investigate the matter.
Police searched the hotel but found no beef or any objectionable material.
“The claims being circulated on social media about cow and buffalo meat are misleading and baseless,” the police said in an official statement issued on June 17.
The police confirmed that the assault happened around 2 pm on June 14 and that the viral posts were found to contain false and inflammatory claims.
FIR Registered Against Accused
Based on the findings, police have registered an FIR against three named persons and several unidentified individuals, including the operator of the Facebook account that circulated the misleading video.
The accused have been booked for assault, criminal intimidation, spreading false information, and hurting religious sentiments with the intent to disturb communal harmony.
Police said raids are ongoing to arrest those involved.
Police Appeal Against Rumours
Authorities have urged people not to believe or share unverified information on social media.
Police said strict action would be taken against anyone trying to spread communal rumours or disturb social peace through false claims.
