NEW DELHI: A veterinary report filed by the Uttar Pradesh government has revealed that it was mutton and not beef in the refrigerator of Mohammad Akhlaq , who was lynched to death and his son critically injured over rumours that his family had consumed a dead calf's meat.

Akhlaq was dragged out of his home and beaten to death by a mob in Uttar Pradesh's Dadri outside New Delhi on September 29 this year. As he and his son were assaulted, the family members kept shouting there was no beef, but the mob did not listen to them.

The attack on Akhlaq's family followed a public announcement from the local temple that the family had slaughtered a calf and eaten its meat. Nearly a dozen people, including the son of a local BJP leader, have been booked for the killing.

According to Times Now, the Uttar Pradesh' veterinary department has confirmed that the meat found on Akhlaq's house was 'mutton' not 'beef'. Forensic lab test results, however, are still awaited.

Akhlaq's murder over beef had triggered massive outrage across the country, with a number of prominent writers returning their Sahitya Akademi awards in protest. A series of controversial statements and visits to Dadri by the BJP leaders kept the issue on the boil.

The chargesheet in the case filed in a magistrate court in Greater Noida last week has named 15 persons, including Vishal Rana, son of a local BJP leader.

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