In yet another attack on members of the minority community here, a 50-strong mob thrashed two Muslim men running a meat shop at Dundahera village on Thursday, accusing them of selling beef.

The attack comes barely a fortnight after several Muslim families, running small enterprises such as tailoring and barber shops in Basai village, were beaten up and forced to flee to their native places in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh. Five persons were arrested in this connection.

Twenty-five-year-old Mohammad Israr and his 40-year-old friend Aftab were at their shop near Kapashera on the Delhi-Haryana border when a large mob armed with sticks confronted them, accusing them of selling beef. “When I tried to reason with them and showed them the receipts to prove it was buffalo meat and not beef, they started raining blows on us. They punched me in the chest, abdomen and head. Aftab was also hit on the head and sustained injuries,” recalled Israr from his bed at the Civil Hospital.

The mob threw the meat in the shop into a dustbin and poured acid over it. “The meat was worth over Rs.10,000,” lamented Israr. The police have seized samples of the meat and sent them for examination.

Israr alleged that some traffic policemen present near his shop remained mute spectators and intervened only after he was badly thrashed. While Israr and his friend were being thrashed, a couple of meat shop owners in the neighbourhood pulled down the shutters. Israr said he was too scared to return to the village.

Israr, who hails from a village in Bihar, said he had been running the meat shop for over seven years but never faced any threat because of his religious identity. Israr claimed that he procures meat from the Ghazipur slaughter house in Delhi and had receipts to prove his claim.

Deputy Commissioner of Police (West) Sangeeta Rani said it was a minor clash between the shop owner and customers over purchase of meat.