View source for Killing of Afan Ansari

{{Incident infobox
|title=<translate><!--T:1--> Killing of Afan Ansari</translate>
|date=2023-06-24
|place=<translate><!--T:2--> Ghoti</translate>
|district=<translate><!--T:3--> Nashik</translate>
|state=<translate><!--T:4--> Maharashtra</translate>
|lat=19.7168
|lon=73.6245
|victims=<translate><!--T:5--> Afan Abdul Majid Ansari; Nasir Qureshi (injured)</translate>
|killed=1
|injured=1
|trigger=cattle transport
|allegation=<translate><!--T:6--> Suspicion that the two men were transporting beef by car</translate>
|legal_status=<translate><!--T:7--> Eleven men arrested and booked for murder and rioting in June 2023; no later report on chargesheet or trial found as of 2026</translate>
|short_description=<translate><!--T:8--> Afan Ansari, a meat transporter from Mumbai, was killed and his companion injured by a group who suspected them of carrying beef near Ghoti, Nashik district, in June 2023.</translate>
}}
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<translate>
<!--T:9-->
The '''killing of Afan Ansari''' occurred on 24 June 2023 near Ghoti in the Igatpuri area of Nashik district, [[Maharashtra]], when a group of men stopped a car carrying meat and assaulted its two occupants on suspicion that they were transporting beef.<ref name="tribune-2023-06-26" /> Afan Abdul Majid Ansari, 32, died and his companion Nasir Qureshi was seriously injured.<ref name="quint-2023-06-26" /> Police arrested 11 men and registered a murder case.<ref name="outlook-2023-06-26" />

== Background == <!--T:10-->

<!--T:11-->
Maharashtra prohibits the slaughter of cows, bulls and bullocks, while the sale and consumption of water buffalo meat is legal.<ref name="aljazeera-2023-06-30" /> The killing was the second of its kind in Nashik district in about two weeks. On 8 June 2023 a group allegedly attacked three men transporting cattle in a tempo, and the body of one of them, Lukman Ansari, was found in a gorge at Ghatandevi in Igatpuri on 10 June.<ref name="tribune-2023-06-26" /> Six people were arrested in that case.<ref name="quint-2023-06-26" />

== Incident == <!--T:12-->

<!--T:13-->
Afan Abdul Majid Ansari, 32, and Nasir Qureshi, 24, both residents of Qureshi Nagar in Kurla, Mumbai, were transporting about 450 kg of meat by car from Sangamner towards Mumbai on 24 June 2023.<ref name="aljazeera-2023-06-30" /> Police said that at around 5:30 pm the car was stopped near Gambhirwadi on the Ghoti–Sinnar road in the Igatpuri area by 10 to 15 people armed with steel rods and wooden sticks.<ref name="tribune-2023-06-26" /> The attackers suspected that the meat was beef.<ref name="aljazeera-2023-06-30" />

<!--T:14-->
Al Jazeera reported that the two men were taken into a forest and beaten for nearly three hours, tied to a tree and later left on the highway; the surviving man said he lived by pretending to be unconscious. Both were taken to SMBT Hospital at Dhamangaon, where Ansari was declared dead.<ref name="aljazeera-2023-06-30" /><ref name="tribune-2023-06-26" /> Qureshi, whose name is also reported as Nasir Hussain and Nasir Shaikh, sustained a brain injury and was later treated at KEM Hospital in Mumbai.<ref name="aljazeera-2023-06-30" /><ref name="quint-2023-06-26" />

== Investigation and legal proceedings == <!--T:15-->

<!--T:16-->
Ghoti police registered a first information report on the basis of Qureshi's statement, recorded in hospital, and arrested 11 people.<ref name="quint-2023-06-26" /> The case was registered under sections of the Indian Penal Code covering murder, attempt to murder, wrongful restraint, causing hurt with dangerous weapons, rioting and unlawful assembly.<ref name="quint-2023-06-26" /> Al Jazeera reported that those arrested were from villages in Nashik district and that one was aged 42 and the others between 19 and 30. Police officer Maruti Borhade said the investigation was continuing and more suspects were being sought.<ref name="aljazeera-2023-06-30" />

<!--T:17-->
Police sent samples of the meat to a forensic laboratory.<ref name="outlook-2023-06-26" /> The complaint described the cargo as "bull and buffalo meat", and The Quint reported that it was not clear whether the men had been carrying beef; police were also trying to determine how the attackers had learned about the car and its cargo.<ref name="quint-2023-06-26" /> Police also registered a case against the two victims under the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act.<ref name="aljazeera-2023-06-30" />

== Aftermath == <!--T:18-->

<!--T:19-->
Ansari, the father of two young daughters, was buried on the day after the attack, which would have been his birthday. His uncle, Mohammad Asgar, said he had received a call from police on the night of 24 June. Al Jazeera placed the killing alongside other recent attacks, including the death of a truck driver in Saran district of [[Bihar]] the same week, and cited a Human Rights Watch count of more than 100 beef-related attacks between May 2015 and December 2018 in which 44 people died.<ref name="aljazeera-2023-06-30" />
</translate>

== <translate><!--T:20--> References</translate> ==
<references>
<ref name="tribune-2023-06-26">{{Cite news|url=https://www.tribuneindia.com/news/nation/man-lynched-by-cow-vigilantes-on-suspicion-of-transporting-beef-in-maharashtras-nashik-11-held-520402|title=Man lynched by 'cow vigilantes' on suspicion of transporting beef in Maharashtra's Nashik; 11 held|publisher=The Tribune|date=2023-06-26|author=PTI|access-date=2026-10-31}}</ref>
<ref name="quint-2023-06-26">{{Cite news|url=https://www.thequint.com/news/india/lynched-killed-in-maharashtra-nashik-over-suspicion-of-carrying-beef|title='Beaten With Metal Rods': 1 Lynched in Nashik Over Suspicion of Carrying Beef|publisher=The Quint|date=2023-06-26|author=Eshwar Gole|access-date=2026-10-31}}</ref>
<ref name="aljazeera-2023-06-30">{{Cite news|url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/6/30/it-was-his-birthday-muslim-lynched-over-beef-in-western-india|title='It was his birthday': Muslim lynched over beef in western India|publisher=Al Jazeera|date=2023-06-30|author=Parth MN|access-date=2026-10-31}}</ref>
<ref name="outlook-2023-06-26">{{Cite news|url=https://www.outlookindia.com/national/maharashtra-cow-vigilantes-lynch-man-to-death-for-transporting-meat-11-arrested-news-298031|title=Maharashtra: Cow Vigilantes Lynch Man To Death For Transporting Meat, 11 Arrested|publisher=Outlook|date=2023-06-26|author=Outlook News Desk|access-date=2026-10-31}}</ref>
</references>

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