Dadri's Bisada village, where a 52-year-old man was lynched on September 28.
The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, the ideological mentor of the BJP, today denied that it supports the lynching of a Muslim man in Uttar Pradesh last month over rumours that he ate beef. The denial came following media reports about an article -- critical of Indian Muslims and appearing to defend the lynching -- was published in Panchjanya, a magazine associated with the RSS.
"The report that RSS supports the Dadri incident is blatantly false and baseless," read a statement by RSS spokesman Manmohan Vaidya.
"The RSS never supported any incident of violence. The RSS has clearly stated about Dadri violence that a thorough inquiry should be conducted and the guilty should be punished," he added.
Mr Vaidya also said "Panchjanya" and its English counterpart "Organiser" were "not the mouthpieces of RSS". "Only an official office bearer speaks on behalf of RSS," he said.
The article had said Mohammad Akhlaq, the man who was lynched after rumours of cow slaughter and beef consumption on September 28, had "perhaps slaughtered a cow under the influence of ... bad deeds". It had also said that Islamic seminaries and Muslim leaders teach Indian Muslims to hate the country's traditions.
The RSS statement came as Prime Minister Narendra Modi was said to be angry about the controversial statements of several BJP leaders in the wake of the Dadri killing and five leaders involved were given a stern warning by party chief Amit Shah.
Earlier, the Prime Minister had expressed his disappoval of the efforts to fan the controversy, saying, "For politics and petty gains, people are making irresponsible statements. Don't take them seriously."