A video that emerged from Sangavi, Pune on Wednesday depicted a high-speed chase of a truck, resulting in a subsequent accident. The footage showed the relentless pursuit, with the assailants shattering the truck’s windows and windshield. The truck driver appeared distressed, his clothes torn, as the attackers interrogated him about the nature of his cargo and its intended destination. The video did not confirm whether the contents were indeed cow meat.

Location: Sangavi, Maharashtra

Cow vigilantes led a high-speed chase to stop a mini truck over suspicion of transporting cattle, which resulted in an accident.

The vigilantes also roughed up the driver. pic.twitter.com/k6UNixITFm

— HindutvaWatch (@HindutvaWatchIn) May 10, 2023

Under The Maharashtra Animal Preservation Act, 1976, section 5A (inserted in 2015) states that “(1) No person shall transport or offer for transport or cause to be transported cow, bull or bullock from any place within the State to any place outside the State for the purpose of its slaughter in contravention of the provisions of this Act or with the knowledge that it will be or is likely to be, so slaughtered.”

On May 4, a high-speed chase in Nashik resulted in a horrific accident involving not only the truck driver but also the cow vigilantes themselves. The truck was left severely mangled, with the cattle lying injured on the road. In the video, one of the cow vigilantes questioned the driver, inquiring about his injuries—whether they were caused by the accident or by physical assault. The driver claimed his injuries were solely due to the accident, denying any assault. The vigilante warned him that he was fortunate to escape this time but should not repeat such actions in the future.

Location: Nashik, Maharashtra

On May 4, cow vigilantes led a high-speed chase to halt a pickup truck over the suspicion of transporting cattle for slaughter, which resulted in a fatal accident.

Both truck driver and cow vigilantes have suffered injuries. pic.twitter.com/1bvRDmWl4n

— HindutvaWatch (@HindutvaWatchIn) May 5, 2023

In Latur on April 23, a Muslim man named Asif, who was transporting cattle, was apprehended by cow vigilantes. They forced him to wear his skull cap and bow before a cow, demanding an apology. Allegedly, Asif suffered injuries and was later admitted to a hospital, all of which unfolded in the presence of the police. Asif had purchased 18 cattle from one market with the intention of selling them at the Ausa-based animal market. However, before he could reach his destination, he was intercepted by the vigilantes. Subsequently, the police arrived, seized the vehicle and the cattle, and lodged a complaint stating that Asif had illegally purchased the animals with the intention of slaughtering them for beef, while also neglecting to provide proper fodder and water arrangements for the cattle. The police took the vehicle and the driver to the Gaushala (cow shelter). At the Gaushala, in the presence of the police, the cow vigilantes allegedly assaulted Asif, made him wear a skull cap, and coerced him into embracing a cow, all while recording the incident. As locals protested against the police’s support of the cow vigilantes, the Superintendent of Police (SP) in Latur, Somay Munde, initiated a departmental inquiry and repatriated three home guards. The local police initially refused to register an FIR, prompting a complaint to be filed with the SP’s office. The complainants alleged that Asif was assaulted and forced to consume cow urine. However, the police denied these allegations, stating that Asif was taken to the hospital due to an increase in his blood pressure. Yet, the complainants cited hospital records to support their claim that Asif had indeed sustained blunt injuries.

#Thread#Gaurakshaks or #cow vigilantes made 28-year-old Asif Qureshi to wear skull cap and bend to the #cow. All this happened in the presence of #policemen 4m #Latur district, #Maharashtra.

Asif’s #crime : transporting #cattle in his mini truck from one market to another

N/1 pic.twitter.com/72tsNVQ0FV

— Mohammed Akhef TOI (@MohammedAkhef) April 28, 2023

Related:

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Karnataka’s Shame: Cattle trader, a Muslim, beaten to death by cow vigilantes

Haryana: More cow vigilantism incidents were reported in April, state district-level special committees fail to act

The post Cow vigilantism casts its ugly shadow on Maharashtra appeared first on SabrangIndia.

 
Iglas: After villagers in Aligarh district in Uttar Pradesh herded more than 700 stray cows and bulls inside the 12 school compounds to save their crops, the situation continued to remain tense as more than a dozen cows were reportedly buried alive in Iglas locality.
 
The district administration and police authorities of Aligarh went into overdrive with the recovery of a dozen cow carcasses, believably, buried alive, near a canal on Aligarh-Mathura Road on Thursday morning.
 
Remains were dug out following information by a resident who found the animal parts popping out of the ground.
 
After the police authorities recovered the carcasses, a post-mortem examination was conducted which confirmed that the cows died of asphyxia.
 
As per the sources, Villagers found animal parts on the ground and after digging found five cows and they claimed that one of them was alive when the police reached the spot.
 
A resident told Times Of India on the condition of anonymity that the police personnel who initially arrived at the scene sent the five dugout cattle to the veterinary hospital and wanted to leave after cleaning the spot. However, they brought a JCB after angry villagers demanded that more area with loose sand should be dug up. The operation led to the recovery of seven more cows.
 
“Villagers of Iglas are up in arms against the administration for its failure to resolve the stray cattle menace. Residents say that ever since the Yogi Adityanath government imposed a ban on cow slaughter and ‘cow vigilantes’ are on the rampage, there has been a phenomenal increase in the population of non-lactating, old and ailing cows deserted by their owners. These animals have been destroying crops, leading to resentment among farmers,” the report added.
 
Abhimanyu Singh, who owns 20 bigha land in Iglas area, said that the farmers can’t afford to feed non-productive cows and no one wants to buy them because of the fear of “gau rakshaks”. “We respect cows, but they are damaging crops,” Singh said, adding that stray cattle had become a huge nuisance. “Farmers have been facing problems for the past year, but now the situation has worsened. The government must take corrective measures,” he said in the report.
 
The DM claimed that around 2,000 cattle were shifted to 12 gaushalas in the past three days.
 
Cow vigilantes from the Vishwa Hindu Parishad, Bajrang Dal and Hindu Yuva Vahini blocked a state highway, protesting the death of a dozen cows the previous night near the Iglas area.
 
“We got the information from some local people that not all the cows were dead. Some of them were buried alive. We can’t tolerate this kind of cruelty on cows,” said Dharma Bhaiya, district in-charge of the VHP in a report by Economic Times.
 
However, both District Magistrate (DM), Aligarh, CB Singh and SSP Ajay Kumar Sahni denied that the cows were buried alive. He claimed that they were dead animals which were buried two days ago. The DM also claimed that autopsy of the bovines established their death two days ago. However, he cautioned against rumour mongers who wanted to vitiate the atmosphere.
 
Meanwhile, the residents of Iglas have raised the issue of increase in the population of stray cattle which was causing inconvenience to them. Besides destroying the crops, non-lactating, old and ailing cows lead to other problems in the area. However, the ban imposed on cow slaughter by the authorities and pro-active cow vigilante groups has made life difficult for residents.
 

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Representational Image of cow vigilantes in action. Photo credit: BBC

 
Two Muslim youth suspected of being cow thieves were lynched by cow goons in West Bengal’s Jalpaiguri district on Sunday.

The incident took place in Dadon village about 15 kms from Dhupguri town. The bodies have been sent for post-mortem and an investigation has been lunched, a senior police officer from Jalpaiguri told the Indian Express.

The police said the victims were travelling through the village late night in a pick-up van with seven cows. The driver lost his way, drove the van round and round, waking up the villagers in the process. While the driver managed to run away the two victims – Hafizul Shaikh of Dhubri in Assam and Anwar Hussain of Patlahawa in Coochbehar —  were surrounded and lynched by the mob.

According to a Times of India report, over the past few weeks there have been allegations of cattle-lifting in the area and the villagers had set up a cow vigilante group.

In June this year, three Muslim youths were lynched by villagers at Durgapur under Chopra police station in North Dinajpur, also on suspicion of cattle theft.

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