The Electronics City police have registered a case against cow vigilante Puneeth Kerehalli for allegedly assaulting a cattle transporter and torturing him with a stun gun on March 20.
A video of the March 20 incident had gone viral when Kerehalli was accused of murdering cattle trader Idrees Pasha at Sathanur, near Kanakapura, on March 31.
The complainant, Aleemulla Baig from Periyapatna, was arrested on the charge of illegal cattle transport under The Karnataka Prevention of Cow Slaughter and Cattle Preservation Act, 2020, after he was intercepted by Kerehalli and his associates and handed over to the police. He recently came out on bail and came forward to lodge a complaint against Kerehalli for assault and torture after seeing that he had been arrested for allegedly murdering another cattle transporter.
In his complaint, Mr. Baig said he was assigned the task of transporting cattle to Krishnagiri, Tamil Nadu, and as he was travelling with the cattle on Hosur Road, his vehicle was intercepted by Kerehalli and his associates, identified as Santosh, Chethan, and Deepak. “As they beat up the driver, Rafiq, they came behind where I was travelling with the cattle. They beat me up and used a stun gun to administer electric shocks and hurled abuses at me for transporting cattle,” he said in his complaint.
Even as Mr. Baig writhed in pain and screamed for help, the torture allegedly did not end. Kerehalli continued to administer electric shocks on Mr. Baig’s legs, arms, and back, even as others beat him up and this went on for nearly an hour. Kerehalli and his associates shouted the “police won’t but we will give you treatment”, Mr. Baig said in his complaint.
After nearly an hour, Kerehalli did a live video of the incident, Mr. Baig said. The video that had gone viral recently showed Kerehalli administering electric shocks. However, while the police arrested Mr. Baig for the alleged illegal transport of cattle, they did not initiate any action against Kerahalli despite a video being posted on his social media handles. Mr. Baig said he did not talk of the assault and torture as Kerehalli had threatened him with dire consequences.
The Electronics City police have now registered a case against Kerehalli and his associates for assault, wrongful restraint, and criminal intimidation, among other offences. They are waiting to get the custody of the accused, as they are presently in the custody of the Sathanur police in connection with the murder case.
