Karnataka police on Wednesday arrested five cow vigilantes, including their leader, in connection with the alleged lynching of a cattle transporter in Karnataka last week.
A state police team arrested Puneeth Kerehalli, the group's leader, Gopi, Pawan Kumar, Suresh and Pillinga Ambigar, from Banswara in Rajasthan. They will be brought to Karnataka's Ramanagara, where the crime took place, to face investigators.
The accused had been on the run ever since the police registered a case after the death of Idrees Pasha, 38, whose body was found lying in a crouched position along Sathanur road, about 150km from Bangalore, on Saturday morning.
Pasha’s companions Syed Zaheer and Irfan had escaped from the clutches of the vigilantes who had intercepted their mini truck transporting 16 cattle heads from neighbouring Mandya to Tamil Nadu.
While Pasha’s family had alleged murder, sections of the local media had reported that he died of a heart attack.
In a major embarrassment for the state police that had been on hot pursuit since Sunday, Puneeth had released a video denying any role in the death of Pasha but confirming that he did intercept the truck carrying cattle.
Seated in a car, Puneeth claimed that he just saw the statements by political leaders and others about the incident as his phone was switched off since he was on a temple run.
“It is said that an FIR has been registered. I will face it. I am not afraid. I have always been straightforward. The cow is like my mother. I have always protected them and will continue to do so in the future. I can’t be stopped even if (H.D.) Kumaraswamy, (P.C.) Siddaramaiah and D.K. Shivakumar tried together,” he said, referring to the Opposition JDS and Congress leaders.
Puneeth and his four accomplices have been arrested under IPC Sections 302 (murder) 323 (assault), 341 (wrongful restraint), 506 (criminal intimidation) and 504 (intentional insult with an intent to provoke breach of peace).
A self-styled cow protector, Puneeth heads an outfit called the Rashtra Rakshana Pade (National Protection Force) and operates from Ramanagara district.
