Latehar SP Anoop Birthary told TOI,
"Mithilesh Sahu is with local cow vigilantes, but no direct involvement
of any outfit with the lynching has surfaced so far." The police,
however, have not questioned the Hindu radicals who run the Gau Raksha
Samiti in Latehar.
"We will question them if our investigation
indicates they had a role in the murders," SP Birthary said, adding that
some people are trying to spread rumours to disturb peace. An IB
officer said the Latehar Samiti is run by a member of the Sahu
community.
The police also said that the motivation behind the murder could have been cattle and cash.
"The
accused said they wanted to snatch the cattle and sell them in the
market. The eight buffaloes would have fetched them a few lakh rupees,"
Birthary said. Six of the eight buffaloes were found at the place about
which the accused told the police.
Cops who questioned the five
said one of them seemed to have had information about the movement of
the cattle traders and he called his friends to the site.
"Eight
people were waiting for the traders. They killed them and took away the
buffaloes," a police inspector said. Bodies of Muhammad Majloom, 35,
and Azad Khan alias Ibrahim, 15, were strung up with their hands tied
behind their backs and their mouths stuffed with cloth. "Petty criminals
with the intention to loot cash and cattle usually do not bother to
kill like this," a retired police officer said.
Jharkhand
Vikas Morcha official Umesh Singh said, "The investigation is aimed at
protecting Hindu radicals who threaten people of the minority community
because they are engaged in cattle trade." Latehar MLA Prakash Ram said
in the past too, Hindu radicals have attacked cattle traders in Latehar.
Prohibitory
orders remained in force in Balumath on Saturday as well. The situation
had turned tense on Friday when protesters threw stones on authorities
injuring a police officer and six constables. The police had fire in the
air to control the mob.
