A house belonging to a minority community in a Muzaffarnagar village was attacked by an angry mob on Saturday afternoon over rumours of cow slaughter.

Rumours of Zeeshan Qureshi, a resident of Kadhli village in Muzaffarnagar, having allegedly slaughtered a cow was sparked off after a villager apparently saw traces of blood in Mr Qureshi's house.

The rumours spread like wildfire and soon hundreds of villagers gathered outside his house and accused Mr Qureshi of cow slaughter.

Mr Qureshi managed to flee to safety but the angry mob attacked and damaged his house. There were reports that the mob tried to set the house on fire but Muzaffarnagar Senior Superintendent of Police Deepak Kumar denied this.

According to Mr. Kumar, the police recovered meat from the house which appears to be beef. “It appears that Zeeshan slaughtered a cow because we recovered meat which seems like cow meat. Besides we recovered a calf and a sharp knife,” Mr. Kumar said. The SSP, however, said the situation was under control and there was no untoward incident.

“Unlike vernacular media reports which suggested that it was almost a repeat of the Dadri incident, the reality is different. There was nothing on the spot which suggests that the mob tried to put Zeeshan's house on fire,” Mr Kumar said.

Local BJP, VHP and Bajrang Dal leaders demanded action against Mr. Qureshi and others under the stringent National Security Act and accused the police of not acting against those who slaughter cows.