Dadri lynching: Priest accepts to making announcement about cow slaughter under pressure from 2 boys

                                                                                                                                               

    In an exclusive revelation to CNN-IBN, Sukhdas, the priest who made the announcement of the cow slaughter in Dadri, said on Thursday that he was forced to make the declaration by 2 youths from the village.

"Two boys from the village came to the temple and forced me to make an announcement about the killing of a cow. The young boys told me that an announcement should be made about it" said Sukhdas "I was not aware of what was happening."

Earlier on Thursday, Police probing the Dadri lynching said that the "trigger" behind it was the announcement by a local temple that beef was being consumed by the victim's family, and said the priest and the two youths were the "major links" in the case.

The Union Home Ministry on Thursday sought a report from the Uttar Pradesh government on the incident. The ministry has also asked the state government to ensure that there is no repeat of such incidents in the future.

50 year-old Iqlakh was beaten to death and his 22-year-old son Danish was critically injured by a 200-strong mob which barged into their house on Monday night following rumours that the family had consumed beef. Cow slaughter is banned in Uttar Pradesh. With tension gripping the area, the ruling Samajwadi Party hit out at BJP over Iqlakh's killing, accusing it of deliberately inciting violence ahead of 2017 assembly polls in Uttar Pradesh as part of efforts to polarise voters.

Prof. John Kurakar