MEERUT: Family members of murdered Muslim gaurakshak, Dilshad Bharti , fear for their lives even 16 months after he was allegedly shot in the head by the beef mafia. But that has not stopped them from continuing his fight. The family has been instrumental in sealing more than 200 illegal slaughterhouses in Saddiq Nagar area alone.

As a result, there have been repeated assaults on the family, the latest one being armed robbery on Tuesday allegedly by a member of the beef mafia. “My grandson stood for truth and his death will not go waste. Our family will not take rest so long as a single cow is slaughtered in the city,” said Bharti’s 82-year-old grandmother, Begum, talking to TOI.

Dilshad was shot in the head on June 27, 2014, just outside his house. He struggled for life for seven months in a number of hospitals in Noida and Meerut and died on January 22, 2015. Soon afterwards, his mother Najma went into depression died a few months later.

His brother Asif Bharti (the family has stopped using Qureshi, its original surname) said that Dilshad had a revolutionary zeal. “He would say that he was a true Muslim. If he could not tolerate disrespect of the Quran, how could a Hindu tolerate the butchering of an animal he considers his mother?”

Asif further stated, “There was a time when every nook and corner of Saddiq Nagar used to have illegal slaughterhouses. Dilshad launched a crusade against the slaughter of these animals and during the process all four of us brothers stopped consuming meat of any sort.”

Dilshad had come in contact with many Hindu gaurakshaks who later became his close friends. Rahul Thakur, who runs Krishna Gaurakshak Dal and is a BJP activist and close associate of the Bharti brothers said, “Dilshad made enemies within his own community but did not compromise with his ideology. We all are now under threat. I too have escaped two attacks on me.”

According to Asif, there were six persons named in the FIR in Dilshad’s murder. All six were sent to jail but four of them got bail. “Now they are constantly threatening us. A few days ago I was shot at by an unidentified person, though I escaped unhurt,” he said.

On Monday night five criminals attacked the Bharti household in Saddiq Nagar where Dilshad’s three brothers Arif, Asif and Imran reside. The entire family was held up on gunpoint and women and children were tied up after which valuables worth Rs 5 lakh were looted.

Lisari police station SO, Ravindra Singh, said, “Everything appeared to be suspicious and resulting from family rivalry.” However, Arif alleged that one of the robbers was the son of the owner of an illegal slaughterhouse.

“More than 5,000 cows and buffaloes are slaughtered illegally in the entire district on a daily basis. The hotspots are Shyam Nagar, Rashid Nagar, Sardhana, Harra Khiwai, Badda, Kithore, and so on. The police are corrupt or choose to be silent spectators,” said Imran, one of the brothers.