One held for assaulting man for 'selling beef'

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One person has been arrested for allegedly beating up an elderly person in Assam's Biswanath district and forcing him to eat pork after accusing him of selling beef, a senior police official said on Tuesday.

Director General of Police Kuladhar Saikia, in a tweet, also said that Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal has told them to take strict action against all the accused and all of them will be booked soon.

The incident took place at Biswanath on Sunday when a mob stopped 68-year-old Shaukat Ali who was on his way home and questioned him whether he has a valid license to sell beef and if he is a Bangladeshi.

"Later the mob beat him black and blue and allegedly forced him to eat pork," a police officer said, that a police team rescued him after being informed of the incident by someone over the telephone.

Ali was undergoing treatment at a local hospital now, police said.

A purported video of the incident, which has gone viral on social media, shows Ali kneeling in the mud on the roadside and being aggressively questioned and then assaulted, drew large scale condemnation across the state.

"We have received an FIR regarding the incident lodged by Ali's brother and registered a case in this regard. We are also trying to verify the authenticity of the video," said a police officer in Biswanath district.

All those involved in the crime will be booked soon, the officer added.

The incident also triggered simmering tension in poll-bound Assam. Biswanath district comes under the Tezpur Lok Sabha constituency, which is going to polls on April 11, along with four other seats in the first phase of the Lok Sabha elections.

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