A six-member group representing the minority community has written to Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath for redress of the lynching attempt on four meat transporters in Aligarh on Saturday.

The group — Citizens for Fraternity — include those who met RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat in 2022 after his call against “looking for a Shivling in every mosque”, during the Gyanvapi row. The signatories to the letter are former chief election commissioner S.Y. Quraishi, former Delhi lieutenant governor Najeeb Jung, former Aligarh Muslim University vice-chancellor Lt Gen. Zameer Uddin Shah, industrialist Saeed Mustafa Shervani, journalist and former MP Shahid Siddiqui, and retired customs commissioner Syed Mahmood Akhter.

They said in the letter: “At this critical hour, when India is projecting a unified commitment towards communal harmony, countering terrorism — not only being perpetuated by its neighbour but also within the country — such incidents are a blot on all efforts towards peace and harmony. These have occurred too many times, often encouraged by inadequate police action. The enemies of the nation do take advantage of such communal hatred and social division to create divisive mayhem within the country, which can be extremely alarming.”

The signatories added: “You are requested to kindly direct the concerned authorities, and issue directions to conclusively provide legal, judicial, affirmative redressal to the victims who are currently in critical conditions in the hospital, while simultaneously ensuring that such incidents are never repeated in future.”

The police have arrested three of the 38 people booked for stopping a truck licensed to transport buffalo meat, attempting to extort its occupants, and then assaulting them when they were unable to pay. The Akhil Bharatiya Hindu Sena claimed responsibility for the attack on the ground that they were protecting cows.