Addressing the media, he said in recent months, many people have been beaten, some of whom lost their lives, for suspected possession or transport of beef or meat of other animals.
"Even Prime Minster Narendra Modi has expressed concern over this and warned that such incidents would not be tolerated. Yet, such incidents have not stopped," Athawale said, adding that such incidents will not be tolerated any more and the self-styled cow vigilantes will be dealt with sternly.
"Everybody in the country has a right to eat beef. The gau rakshaks have the right to lodge a police complaint... However, they don't have the authority to take the law in their hands and beat or lynch anybody," said Athavale, who is President of NDA constituent, the Republican Party of India-A.
The minister's statement came days after Maharashtra was rocked by beef-related incidents -- two in Pune and one in Nagpur -- in which four persons were arrested and a former BJP activist brutally assaulted on suspicions of transporting beef by a mob of cow vigilantes respectively.
(This story has not been edited by Social News XYZ staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
About VDC
Doraiah Chowdary Vundavally is a Software engineer at VTech . He is the news editor of SocialNews.XYZ and Freelance writer-contributes Telugu and English Columns on Films, Politics, and Gossips. He is the primary contributor for South Cinema Section of SocialNews.XYZ. His mission is to help to develop SocialNews.XYZ into a News website that has no bias or judgement towards any.