Amarnath yatra shooting led to attack on Salim

NAGPUR: The former Katol taluka chief of BJP’s minority cell

Salim Shah

’s thrashing by so-called gau rakshaks took an interesting turn after it came to fore that his assault was a revenge of the July 10 attack on Amarnath pilgrims in which eight people, including seven women, were killed. This was told to TOI by reliable sources in the police.

On Monday, Shah was granted bail by a Narkhed court against a deposit of a bond of Rs15,000. Two days after the Amarnath incident, Moreshwar Tandulkar (26), Ashwin Uikey (25),

Rameshwar Taywade

(42) and Jagdish Choudhuri (25) intercepted Shah at

Barasinghi Chowk

, about 85 kms from Nagpur, while he was returning to his residence at Hattikhana in Katol. Shah was carrying meat — tests by the forensic lab revealed it was

beef

— in his two-wheeler’s dickey which his wife said was for a “religious gathering”.

Tandulkar is the taluka president of Independent MLA

Bacchu Kadu

’s Prahar Sanghatana.

The four were sent to jail on Monday by Jalalkheda court after their remand had expired. Shah too was booked for possession of beef.

Jalalkheda police are now trying to zero down upon Antul Quereshi, a butcher from Amner village in Warud tehsil of Amravati, from whom Shah had purchased the beef.

Amid the ongoing investigation, the startling revelation has now come to fore that Tandulkar had targeted Shah to avenge the killings of the innocent yatris to the Amravati by the terrorists. Tandulkar had spotted Shah several times in the past while carrying meat.

Meanwhile, Shah’s younger brother Tasleem was relieved after the former returned home following the bail. “We will take Salim to a doctor to ensure his injuries do not aggravate,” he said. “Then, we will focus on earning as we have suffered financial losses in the last week.”

BJP’s minority cell of Nagpur district has issued a press note distancing itself from Shah now. The press statement also underlined the fact that Shah was at the helm of the minority cell of Katol taluka three years ago and now he was just an ordinary member.