Akhilesh slams BJP after NEET aspirant killed by alleged cattle smugglers

Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav on Wednesday strongly criticised the ruling BJP over the alleged killing of 20‑year‑old NEET aspirant Deepak Gupta in Gorakhpur by suspected cattle smugglers, saying that despite seeking votes on the promise of ending cattle smuggling, the UP government has failed to curtail such activities in the last nine years.

“The Gorakhpur incident shows that the government’s slogan of zero tolerance has become zero,” Yadav said at a press conference.

In Gorakhpur, the victim was allegedly killed in a confrontation between cattle smugglers and villagers on Monday night, prompting protests by locals.

The SP chief alleged that the BJP was encouraging such illegal trade. “Questions have been raised many times that people of the Bharatiya Janata Party have worked to promote such business (cattle smuggling), and as a result, India is number one in (beef) exports and many people have also invested in it,” he claimed.

They were asking for votes in the name of banning cattle slaughter, but even after nine years, smuggling is very much alive and a young man has lost his life, the former Uttar Pradesh chief minister said.

Yadav also extended his critique to alleged land‑grabbing activities. “The BJP and its associates are constantly trying to grab valuable land, and information about this has been coming from different districts at different times,” he alleged.

He said that similar reports are coming from Varanasi and now from Gorakhpur, where a 'scam is going on on a large scale regarding land'.

Cattle vigilantism has become a major flashpoint in India’s socio‑political fabric over recent years. Groups claiming to protect cows have frequently taken law enforcement into their own hands, leading to violence, lynchings, and mob attacks, often against marginalised communities such as Muslims and Dalits.

A Human Rights Watch report notes that between May 2015 and December 2018 at least 44 people — 36 of them Muslims — were killed in attacks by vigilante groups justified under the pretext of cow protection. These incidents are often accompanied by harassment, social ostracism, or property damage even where there is no clear proof of wrongdoing.

Beyond individual tragedies, vigilantism has wider socio‑economic consequences. It disrupts cattle trade, burdens rural farmers, and threatens industries linked with cattle (dairy, leather, transport). In several states, protests have erupted when butchers or cattle traders allege harassment by vigilante groups.

With PTI inputs