The Ullal Police arrested seven men on the charge of shooting down a buffalo in Madoor near Kotekar on Sunday.
The names of six of the arrested were given as Jayaram Rai (58), Umar Farooq (42), Mohammed Hussain (26), Mohammed Kalandar (43), Mohammed Sinan (22) and lliyas (22).
Hearing the sound of gun fire, residents, including Bajrang Dal activists, rushed to the farm of Jayaram Rai where they found the buffalo dead. The throat of the buffalo had been slashed. The residents expressed anguish over the incident and sought action.
Meanwhile, police investigation revealed that Jayaram Rai had made use of the services of the other accused to gun down the buffalo, which reportedly had damaged crops. Then, they made an attempt to sell it to beef traders. The police seized a country-made fire arm, a few pellets, machetes and two vehicles from the accused.
The seven accused were booked for offences punishable under the Karnataka Prevention of Cow Slaughter and Preservation of Cattle Act, Arms Act and Indian Penal Code.
