On September 18, 2015, a mob gathered outside Akhlaq's home in the Bisada village in Dadri after an announcement from the local temple alleged that he had slaughtered a cow and stored its meat in the fridge. The mob --led by Vishal Rana, son of a local BJP leader, and cousin Shivam-- dragged Akhlaq and his son Danish out of their home and assaulted them until they fell unconscious.

While Akhlaq died at a Noida hospital, Danish survived after suffering severe head injuries and undergoing major surgery.

Police had registered an FIR at Jarcha police station under sections 302 (murder), 307 (attempt to murder), 147 (rioting), 148 (rioting with deadly weapon), 149 (unlawful assembly), 323 (assault), 504 (intentional insult to disturb peace), of IPC.

Police filed the chargesheet on December 23, 2015, before a magistrate court in Surajpur, naming 15 people, including a minor, in connection with the lynching. All the accused are currently out on bail. However, the chargesheet did not specifically mention cow meat, as the final forensic report was not available at the time it was submitted.

The lynching led to nationwide protests involving slogans "Not in my name," to denounce the spike in Hindutva mob violence targeting Muslims.

However, despite nationwide outrage, all 15 accused were released on bail by September 2017.