Bengaluru: Chaos swept through the KSR Bengaluru railway station on Friday when self-styled Hindutva vigilante Puneeth Kerehalli and his associates intercepted a large shipment of red meat that arrived by a long-distance train, alleging it was "dog meat".
The meat — packed in 150 bulky cartons and weighing about 3,000 kg — was loaded into a parcel van (VPU) of the Jaipur-Mysuru Express, which pulled into platform 5 of KSR Bengaluru at 3.21 pm, according to well-placed sources in the Railway Protection Force (RPF).
The parcel van had been leased by a Bengaluru-based businessman named Abdul Razak. He took delivery of the packages at 5.20 pm and kept them outside the station premises, on the road near outside the station's Okalipuram entrance.
Around 6.45 pm, Kerehalli and 20 of his associates arrived, confiscated two cartons and raised slogans against the consignee as well as the consignor, alleging it was dog meat. They also called the media, leading to an argument between Razak and the vigilantes, the RPF sources said.
RPF, Government Railway Police (GRP) and Bengaluru police officials arrived at the scene.
Razak informed the officials said that all the 150 boxes had goat/sheep meat and that he had been carrying out business legally for the last 12 years, with all requisite documents.
Razak claimed that Kerehalli and his team had attempted to extort money from him, which he refused to pay.
Authorities later summoned a butcher to chop the meat for sampling, and food inspectors from the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) took samples for investigation.
Pavan Kumar Reddy, a police inspector in the RPF's Bengaluru division, told DH that the meat was likely "mutton".
RPF sources said the city police had arrested Kerehalli but police did not confirm this.
A Hassan native living in Bengaluru, Kerehalli is no stranger to controversies. He faces at least 10 criminal cases.
In April 2023, he was arrested following the suspected lynching of cattle van driver near Sathanur.
How railway parcels are booked
The sender hands over the parcel to the parcel clerk after filling in the parcel details in the forwarding note.
The parcel clerk examines the parcel to match it with details mentioned by the sender, weighs the parcel and notes down the dimensions in the forwarding note.
Parcel charges are collected upfront.