A right-wing activist and his associates were booked for allegedly beating a cattle trader to death after intercepting his vehicle in Karnataka’s Ramanagara district on Saturday.
The Congress hit out at the BJP-led government over the incident, saying the main accused was on the saffron camp’s “payroll”. But the ruling party denied direct links with him and said such a “mistake” will not be condoned while also saying the man was working for “dharma”.
According to police, the incident took place in the district’s Sathanur village. The main accused was identified as Puneeth Kerehalli.
Police said the victim, identified as Idrees Pasha, was carrying cattle in his vehicle when he was intercepted by Kerehalli and his aides near Sathanur. They accused him of illegal cattle trade following which they abused and attacked him leading to his death, police added.
Pasha’s family members staged a protest in front of the Sathanur police station demanding the arrest of Kerehalli and his aides along with strict action against them. An FIR was registered even as police are searching for Kerehalli and the others.
“They followed him from Mandya and, here at Sathanur, they intercepted his vehicle. Puneeth Kerehalli and his associates assaulted him with bats and tortured him, which led to his death; Puneeth Kerehalli is the main reason behind his death. There was no need to hit him. They should’ve handed him to the police. Do they have a licence to beat up people? Has the government given them a licence to do this?” said Pasha’s friend Wasim.
Responding to the incident of alleged cow vigilantism, Congress leader Priyank Kharge hit out at the state government for passing the anti-cow slaughter bill. He blamed the BJP-led government for “propagating” such “gaurakshaks”.
“The anti-cow slaughter bill passed by the government of Karnataka is nothing but to harass the innocent. The finance department warned the government not to pass the bill as it will cost close to Rs 5,000 crore and asked it to drop the plan. But the government got this bill to appease its vote bank and you see what has happened today. There is nobody to take care of cattle. All these gaurakshaks that the government is propagating are all from the BJP and are on their payroll,” Kharge said.
The BJP, meanwhile, denied any link with Kerehalli and said those who commit such a “mistake” must be punished and the state government will not condone such acts.
“Be it Puneeth Kerehalli or anyone, they are doing their work on their own and there’s no connection between him and the BJP. They have accepted our ideology, that doesn’t mean they are BJP workers. Whoever commits a mistake will not be condoned by the state government, but I feel Puneeth Kerehalli doesn’t have that mindset. We know that he’s working for the protection of our dharma, we have that trust,” said BJP spokesperson Ashok Gowda.
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