A man who takes law into his own hands, Shivshankar Swami has conducted more than 200 ‘raids’ in the past five years and has serious offences like extortion, dacoity and rioting filed against him; but, says Pune Mirror, he gets police cover claiming a threat to his life
Shivshankar Swami (second from above left and inset) with his armed cop and his mentor Milind Ekbote (right) PIC: NIKHIL GHORPADE Courtesy: Pune Mirror
“I get so angry at those who are into the Gau-Rakshak business…. I have seen that some people are into crimes all night and wear the garb of Gau Rakshaks in the day.”
— Prime Minister Narendra Modi, August 2016
“Mahatma Gandhi would have shown us what a true gau rakshak is and he would have never approved of cow vigilantism.”
— Prime Minister Narendra Modi, June 2017
While the Supreme Court has directed states to appoint senior nodal officers to tackle cow vigilantism, and why violence in the name of the cow is not being controlled, many of these self-styled law breakers enjoy police protection!
Shivshankar Swami, says Pune Mirror, has been enjoying police protection for the past two years. Meet Pune’s very own self-proclaimed Gau Rakshak, who has carried out more than 200 raids on people transporting cattle in the last five years. Scores of cases have been registered against him for a myriad of offences ranging from dacoity and rioting to even extortion and attempt to murder. Some he has been acquitted of, while others are still pending trial.
“I felt that the cow is our mother and it is our duty to save her. I was a regular visitor at the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) shakha and that’s where I heard of Milind Ekbote. I was fascinated by his work, so I joined Ekbote’s Gau Raksha Abhiyan at the age of 17 and started helping him. I have been conducting raids for the last five years. Till date, I’ve reached a record number of 200 cases. I don’t think any Gau Rakshak across the country would have managed to do this,” Swami proclaimed proudly.
When Mirror queried about his modus operandi, Swami readily explained, “It’s simple. Whenever there is a tip-off, we reach the spot and stop the vehicles carrying the animals. The respective police station is informed and then the raid is conducted.
By the time the cops arrive, we have already done our job, taking the meat or the animals travelling in the vehicle into custody. When the police reach the spot, all of this is taken to the police station and an offence is registered.” But who gives them the authority to raid the vehicles? “We have to do that. What if these people run away by the time the police arrive?” he reasoned. Swami dismissed all the serious offences registered against him, alleging that these were the handiwork of a corrupt police.
“All of these cases are false. I never break any law. In fact, I feel that we should go the legal way while filing the cases,” he insisted. And he does practice what he preaches. Apart from the hundreds of raids, he has also filed cases against several butchers with multiple courts on behalf of animal shelters. With this move, he ensures that the animals he has confiscated from their custody do not easily go back to the owners. So how does he fund the legal battles? “There are a few lawyers who feel for our cause. So, they help us fight the cases. For the rest, we spend money from our own pockets,” he offered. + A sneak peek at the details of a few of his raids is enough to show the extent of his influence. And this is just the tip of the iceberg.
On August 26, 2011, Aftab Wepari was taking his buffaloes to Pune market from Satara. When he reached Khed Shivapur toll plaza he, was stopped by Swami and his men. “There were seven to eight of them,” recalled Wepari, going on to say, “They asked me why I was transporting the animals. They stopped our vehicles and beat us up badly.” A case was registered against Swami and his aides at Rajgad police station, the hearing for which is currently on at the sessions court.
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In another instance, tempo driver Balasaheb Londhe was transporting eight bullocks on August 29, 2014 in his vehicle when he was accosted by Swami. “I had the RTO licence for the vehicle and I was transporting the animals legally. But Swami stopped me and began beating me up even while he was asking why I was transporting the animals. He took me to the police station and registered a complaint against me. Since I was injured badly, I filed a case against him as well. But while I had to attend court hearings for the case he has registered, no one has told me the status of the case I had filed,” rued Londhe.
On July 11, 2015, Noor Mohammad Shaikh was travelling to his home in Nasrapur after visiting the animal market with his four friends, when he was suddenly surrounded by eight to nine people on the highway. “They stopped us by bringing their vehicle in front of our bikes and started beating me up. They even broke my bike. I could identify Shivshankar Swami, one of the Gau Rakshaks. But I did not know why he decided to attack us. We were not even transporting any animals. We were just travelling home on our two-wheelers,” said Shaikh. A case of breach of peace, wrongful restraint, damaging property and unlawful assembly was filed against Swami and the people accompanying him under sections 341, 143, 504 and 427 of the Indian Penal Code, which is pending in court.
But Ekbote would not hear anything adverse about his protégé, saying that they had to ask for police protection for Swami two years ago. “We were told that people from Phaltan had conspired to kill Swami. So, we requested the police for protection. The commissioner agreed and, since the last two years, Swami has a policeman accompanying him throughout the day. He has faced such threats thrice. So we are submitting one more letter to the police officials to inform them,” Ekbote clarified.
This police official accompanies him across the city, even at times when he is conducting these raids. Though Swami claims that cop who accompanys him has no role to play during the raids, the Qureshis, whose main livelihood centres around buffalo meat and milk, begged to differ. Saadiq Qureshi, a member of the state Beef Dealers’ Association, alleged, “There are instances when the police official accompanying him has asked the driver for the documents, permits and receipts validating the buying and transporting of the animals. They promptly tear the documents so that when the driver and tempo finally reach the police station, they have nothing to show, leading to the cases filed against them. We met director general of police (DGP) Satish Mathur, asking him how Swami has managed to get police protection despite cases of serious offences filed against him. We are waiting for the cops to initiate action and are even planning to take legal recourse against him.”
When Mirror spoke to inspector Hemant Bhat from the Special Branch about the modalities of police protection, he said, “When we receive an application demanding protection for someone, we send it to the respective police station for its opinion. The cops there verify the claims and send us a report, based on which the application is put up before a committee to take the final call. Swami was given police protection after due completion of this process. At present, he has one constable accompanying him for 12 hours. This is unpaid protection. Though there are offences registered against him, the threat that this person has and also the circumstances in which the offences were registered are also taken into consideration. He was given police protection owing to a threat to his life.”
Curiously, Swami’s family is blissfully unaware of his ‘acts of bravado’. “I have a younger brother. My family is not happy as they feel I ignore them. They know that I work for the protection of the cows. But they are unaware of the risks and the nature of my work,” said Swami.