Jharkhand lynching a barbaric act but not communal: Venkaiah Naidu

Union Minister M. Venkaiah Naidu on Friday condemned the killing of a man on the suspicion of carrying beef in Jharkhand and said the matter must not be viewed from a religious angle.

On a day Prime Minister Narendra Modi warned that killings in the name of cow protection won't be tolerated, a man was beaten to death by a mob in Jharkhand on suspicion that he was carrying beef in his vehicle.

The incident took place just a couple of days after a mob attacked and injured a man in Giridih district on suspicion that he had slaughtered a cow.

"It has been condemned by and one all. The Prime Minister also, for the second, time spoke about it. It is happening in different parts of the country and it's a really shame, barbaric and atrocious. Don't bring religious angle into this," Naidu said.

He asked the law enforcing agencies, including the police, at the district and the state level, to take effective action so that there is no recurrence of such incident in the future.

In a strong message to cow vigilantes, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday said that killing people in name of Gau Bhakti was not acceptable.

"We are the land of non violence. We are the land of Mahatma Gandhi. Why do we forget this?," said PM Modi.

"Let's all work together. Let's create the India of Mahatma Gandhi's dreams. Let's create an India our freedom fighters would be proud of," the prime minister said.