https://thewire.in/communalism/a-decade-after-akhlaqs-lynching-uttar-pradesh-govt-moves-to-drop-all-charges-against-accused Among the accused is Vishal Rana, son of local Dadri BJP leader Sanjay Rana. Akhlaq’s lynching triggered nationwide debate on mob violence, intolerance, and beef eating, sparking polarised responses across the political and social spectrum. Several citizen groups organised “Not In My Name” marches and political activists and scholars underlined that it indicated weakening of secular and democratic values in the country.
It eventually became a grim precedent for a series of similar attacks across northern India during the Modi decade, as self-styled “gau rakshaks” targeted Muslim men on allegations of cow slaughter or cattle transport in the name of cow protection.