Nandini Matiyani, vice-president (human resources), Wipro, and an animal rights activist, who claimed to have been attacked by a mob following the raid on an illegal abattoir in South Bengaluru on October 14, has been booked for rashing driving and causing mischief.
Matiyani (45), who volunteers for Gau Gyan Foundation, had got the police to raid a place in Avalahalli where cows were illegally kept for slaughter.
She later claimed that she and a friend, Sijil, were attacked by a mob that was angry at their attempts to prevent cow slaughter. The attack happened in the presence of two policemen, she said.
But a senior police officer, who is part of the investigation, blamed Matiyani for ignoring police warnings that eventually led to the mob attack on her.
Matiyani and three of her friends had arrived at the jurisdictional Thalaghattapura police station around 7.30 pm, complaining of illegal cattle slaughter near Tipu Sultan Circle, Avalahalli. Acting on the complaint, the officer said, police accompanied her to the spot, rescued the cows and returned to the police station. The duo was specifically advised against going back to the spot.
But neither Matiyani nor Sijil pay any heed and drove back in their Toyota Innova even as police bandobast was taken off. By this time, a large crowd gathered at the spot following commotion over the rescue of cows. In the melee, the duo’s car brushed against an auto-rickshaw and crashed into a butcher’s, angering the crowd which pelted the vehicle with stones.
Police initially registered two cases: one of illegal possession of cattle and another over the mob violence that ensued during the visit of Matiyani and Sijil. They arrested seven people on Monday and six more on Wednesday. Now, they have opened a case of rash driving and causing mischief against Matiyani on the basis of a complaint.
Published 19 October 2017, 19:31 IST