A total of seven persons have been arrested for stealing cattle belonging to a Muslim farmer near Savanoor Wednesday night. Based on the complaint of one of the arrested, the farmer, too, was arrested for allegedly assaulting the group.
According to the police, Usman, who had left his cattle to graze at Panemajilu village while he worked in a mobile store, was informed by his family around 7.30 p.m. that his cattle were missing.
When searching for his cattle, he came across a pick-up truck that was transporting two cows and two calves, belonging to his herd.
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He called for help, and he and associates stopped the vehicle, said a police official.
Based on Usman's complaint, the police arrested Narayana Gowda, Sundar Poojary, Prakash K., Vishwanath Poojary, Lingappa Gowda, Santosh Gowda and Shafiq.
However, Sundar Poojary also filed a counter-complaint against Usman and others for assaulting them while they were transporting the cattle. Usman was subsequently arrested and released on bail.
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No slaughter Act
The police said the group confessed to taking the cattle from the field, with the intention of “protecting” the cattle in a nearby goshala in Puttur.
“The seven men arrested are Usman’s neighbours, who say they were fed up with Usman letting his cattle graze on their fields. So, after several warnings, they decided to take the cattle to the goshala to teach them a lesson… because of this, we have not invoked the Cow Slaughter Act against them, instead booking them only for cattle theft,” said Superintendent of Police Abhishek Goyal.
Responding to allegations that the arrested belonged to a Hindutva organisation, Bajrang Dal, which had called for a press conference in Puttur on Thursday, denied that the arrested men belonged to their group.