A goods vehicle driver was allegedly lynched about 60 km southwest of Bengaluru by cow vigilantes who accused him of cow slaughter and asked him to go to Pakistan.
Police have launched murder investigations against Puneeth Kerehalli, a Hindutva activist, and three others but have not arrested anyone.
The incident drew sharp reactions from Congress and JD(S) leaders, who called it an “orchestrated” murder to start a communal flare-up in the old Mysuru region ahead of Assembly polls.
Idrees Pasha, 39, Irfan, 37, and Syed Zaheer, 40, were transporting buffaloes in a minitruck when Kerehalli and his men intercepted them near Santemala Circle in Sathanur, Ramanagara district, around 12.30 am on April 1.
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The victims, all from Mandya taluk, bought the buffaloes at a cattle market in Shivapura village, Maddur taluk. They were headed to Krishnagiri, Tamil Nadu, where they intended to sell the animals at a cattle market and make a profit, according to Yunus Pasha, Idrees’ younger brother.
Idrees and Zaheer were truck drivers hired by Irfan, a helper. They worked for a cattle trader.
The cow vigilantes accused the men of cow slaughter, with Kerehalli leading the charge. “You know who I am, don’t you? If you don’t know, my name is Puneeth Kerehalli. I’ll let you go only if you give me Rs 2 lakh,” the FIR quotes him as saying. Kerehalli, carrying a gun, then abused the men and asked them to go to Pakistan, the FIR states. The three tried to reason with him. They said they had legally purchased the buffaloes and had valid bills. But Kerehalli and his men pulled lethal weapons and intimidated them.
Irfan and Zaheer were overpowered and tied up but escaped later. Idrees tried to escape but fell into the bushes, where the assailants attacked and killed him, as per the FIR.
His death was discovered many hours later on Saturday morning.
Around 2.30 am, Puneeth went live on Facebook, where he took the names of his associates — Pavan, Gopi and Pillinga. “Let’s take the vehicle to the goshala (cowshed) after filing an FIR,” he says in the video, referring to the minitruck. The group filed a police complaint against Syed, accusing him of illegally transporting cattle.
“My brother was only doing his job of transporting cattle from one santhe (fair) to another. He had all the purchase documents to prove it. These men assumed he was doing something illegal, attacked him, and killed him,” Idrees’ brother Pasha told DH.
Yunus suggested that his brother was beaten and hacked to death and said the body had external injuries. “Nobody should have experienced such a horrible incident,” he said amid sobs.
Family members took the body to the Sathanur police station on Saturday and staged a protest, demanding arrests in the case.
Police convinced them to submit the body for a post-mortem, which took place later that day.
A senior police officer said that the preliminary medical report would come out on Monday. He refused to give details of the case as the investigation is underway.
Idrees was buried at 11 am on Sunday, Yunus said. He is survived by his wife and four children.