'Islamic State letter threatens to kill Modi, Parrikar for banning beef in India'

Report says IS in a letter threatened the Indian premier and defence minister

A letter allegedly signed by Islamic State has threatened to kill Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar for banning beef in India, the Hindustan Times reported.

"Since you are not allowing beef to be consumed, you will be taken care of," the letter read.



The postcard was received at the Indian State Secretariat last week, following which Goa Police initiated a probe with the help of India's Anti Terrorist Squad (ATS.

“All the agencies of state police are investigating this letter. We will soon be able to find the source of it,” the police official said. “IS was written at the bottom of the postcard,” the official confirmed.

Last year several incidents were reported of people taking lives and attacking Muslims for consuming beef despite a ban on its consumption. In October 2015, several members of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) beat up an independent Muslim member in Jammu and Kashmir assembly for hosting a beef party. BJP lawmakers pounced on Engineer Rashid and started thrashing him before proceedings began.

Read: Mob kills Indian Muslim over beef eating rumours: police

"I meant to offend no one and just wanted to send out the message that no courts or legislature can prevent the people from eating what they want,” Sheikh Abdul Rashid explained.

The independent member of the assembly had hosted a party on the lawns of Srinagar’s Members of Legislative Assembly (MLA) hostel on Wednesday where guests were served dishes made of beef.

This article originally appeared on Hindustan Times.