A murder case was registered late on Saturday night against a group of self-styled cow vigilantes, who allegedly tortured and killed the 39-year-old assistant driver of a van transporting cattle on the outskirts of Bengaluru early that morning. Idrees Pasha was found dead in Sathanur village of Kanakapura taluk, just hours after the vigilante gang intercepted and allegedly attacked the van’s three occupants.
The deceased’s last rites were held on Sunday, with his brother Yunus Pasha alleging that the body had several “burn injuries and wounds indicating he was tortured and killed”. Acting on his complaint, Sathanur police registered a murder case against vigilante leader Puneeth Kerehalli, who is absconding, and his associates.
Political implications
The incident occurred in Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee president D.K. Shivakumar’s Kanakapura constituency days ahead of the State’s Assembly election, triggering a political slugfest. Tweeting photos of the accused with several prominent BJP leaders including Karnataka Home Minister Araga Jnanendra, the Opposition Congress and Janata Dal (Secular) have accused the ruling BJP of fostering such elements to disturb communal harmony in the State.
Idrees Pasha, a resident of Mandya, was assisting Syed Zaheer, 40, who was driving the van belonging to a cattle trader Irfan. The trio loaded the cows they reportedly bought at a cattle fair in Maddur on Friday evening, and were on their way to Tamil Nadu when Mr. Kerehalli and his associates intercepted the vehicle at Santemala Circle in Sathanur past midnight.
Live video of interception
The accused, who shot to fame with Facebook Live videos of such cow vigilantism and attacks on minorities over the past few years, posted a live video of the incident, now deleted from his social media account, but accessed by The Hindu. In the video, Mr. Kerehalli is heard saying that all the occupants of the van fled from the scene as soon as they intercepted it and that “his boys had gone chasing them to nab them”.
Later in the night, police sources said that the gang of cow vigilantes brought Mr. Zaheer, the driver of the vehicle, to the Sathanur police station, where he was booked under the Karnataka Prevention of Slaughter and Preservation of Cattle Act, 2020. Based on Mr. Zaheer’s complaint, they also registered a case against Mr. Kerehalli and his associates under Section 341 (wrongful restraint) of the Indian Penal Code. That FIR, a copy of which The Hindu has accessed, said that the driver alleged that the vigilante had hurled abuses at him and handed him over to the police, even as the other two men from the vehicle fled. Even as Mr. Zaheer was detained, Mr. Kerehalli was let go, sources said.
Autopsy report awaited
Hours later, around 8:00 a.m. on Saturday, Mr. Pasha’s friends and family who had been searching for him found his body in a prostrate position in a nearby bush. “I was in Mandya when my friends told me they had found the body of Idrees,” Yunus Pasha said. “As part of the last rites we gave him a bath and noticed there were multiple burn marks all over his body and bruises on his head, which indicate he was tortured and killed,” he told The Hindu.
An autopsy was conducted on the body on Saturday evening and a report is awaited, police said.
A senior police officer said that there was no evidence yet to ascertain the cause of death. “Though we thought of filing an unnatural death report, we have now taken up a murder case based on the complaint by the deceased’s brother and are investigating the case. The autopsy report will throw more light on the cause of death,” the officer said.
Contradictions in FIRs
There are contradictory elements in the FIRs, one filed on the basis on Mr. Zaheer’s complaint before the body was found and the second filed on Saturday evening, following a protest by the family, which booked Mr. Kerehalli and his associates for murder. According to that second FIR, Mr. Yunus Pasha told the police that Mr. Zaheer told him that the cow vigilantes demanded a bribe of ₹2 lakh to let them go. As Mr. Idrees and Mr. Irfan fled from the scene, the miscreants went into a bush where Idrees was hiding and killed him. However, Mr. Yunus Pasha told The Hindu that he does not know how to read and write and did not know the complaint said so. He claimed he had not spoken to Mr. Zaheer at all.
Mr. Zaheer, arrested for alleged illegal cattle transport and released on bail, told The Hindu that as the vehicle was intercepted by Mr. Kerehalli and his associates, all three of its occupants fled from the scene. He said he was hiding in a bush nearby and came out after about 20 minutes when he saw the accused making a Facebook Live video. The gang then bundled him up in a vehicle in which he claimed he was assaulted, adding that a policeman had rescued him. Mr. Zaheer said he did not know what had happened to Mr. Idrees and Mr. Irfan.
