A 24-year-old man named Aijaz Dar from the Thanamandi region of Jammu and Kashmir was reportedly beaten to death by a group of individuals while returning to Rajouri district with a buffalo on Tuesday, 22 June. According to a report by The Indian Express, Dar, along with two others, was on his way home at night after purchasing the buffalo from Laam near Nowshera. While the others sustained injuries and managed to escape, Dar was critically wounded and later succumbed to his injuries at Government Medical College Hospital in Jammu.
Local residents have alleged that cow vigilantes were responsible for the attack, sparking protests outside the Rajouri Deputy Commissioner’s office. The protesters demanded the immediate arrest of the accused and called for their detention under the stringent Public Safety Act.
The police have identified four suspects, but they remain at large. The incident has drawn widespread condemnation from the local community. Guftar Ahmed Choudhary, spokesperson of the Gujjar Bakarwal Youth Welfare Conference, voiced the outrage on social media, saying, “The murderer of Aijaz Dar should face the death penalty. He was the sole breadwinner of a poor family, brutally killed by goons. How many more families will fall victim to lynching?”
