RAMGARH: The death of a Muslim man in mysterious circumstances in Rajrappa , Jharkhand, on Tuesday could create yet another controversy over beef in Ramgarh Touhid Ansari (45), a resident of Karma village, allegedly met with an accident, and meat, reported to be beef, fell out of the dickey of his motorcycle. A few hours later, he was found dead just metres from the accident site. “Around 9am, a bike met with an accident. Three hours later, we received information that a body had been found,” Sachida Prasad Singh, officer in charge of Rajrappa police station, told TOI.The body was identified by Touhid’s family who came across gruesome images of the body on social media and got in touch with police.Touhid’s father, Khalil, lodged an FIR at Rajrappa police station on Tuesday night saying his son had died after he was “mercilessly beaten up”. The family alleged the body bore severe bruises and even acid burns. Touhid is survived by his wife, two daughters and a son. His family said he used to do odd jobs for a living and suffered from facial paralysis.Asked how the events played out, Singh said, “Our investigation indicates that the two incidents are separate and unrelated.” However, in the FIR, Khalil mentioned the registration number of the bike Touhid was on was the same as that of the bike the police had confiscated from the accident spot. Singh added the bike belonged to one Mohammed Hamid. Touhid’s family said ownership of the bike had been transferred to Touhid in an agreement.Refusing to comment on whether Touhid was lynched, Ramgarh subdivisional officer Radha Prem Kishore said: “The post-mortem report should be ready by Thursday. The vehicle with which the bike had an accident has not been traced yet.”Police have not denied that meat was seized but said they were waiting for forensic laboratory reports to determine if it indeed was beef, which is banned in Jharkhand. “The meat seized has been sent to the forensic laboratory, reports of which will take time to come,” Kishore said.“A pickup van rammed into a bike and 15-20 bags of meat fell out of the bike’s dickey. The man was unhurt, but alarmed. He made a run for it,” said Tularam Mahato, a resident of the area in which the accident took place. “Later, we heard a man had been killed. Maybe he was killed by people trying to hush up news about illegal meat being sold,” he added.That possibility was not ruled out by Touhid’s family either. For former Ramgarh legislator Shankar Chaudhary of BJP, the greater crime was that “illegal meat” was still being sold.

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