Hindutva activists torch vehicle, attack 'beef transporters' near Bengaluru, several arrested

The attackers, who numbered 16, forced the seven transporters to carry the butchered upper parts of the animals on their heads, while they raised Hindutva slogans and took videos.

Workers of a Hindutva outfit allegedly intercepted four trucks and a car said to be transporting beef from Hindupur to Bengaluru early on Sunday, evicted the occupants and set the car on fire. The vigilantes then forced the occupants to carry the upper parts of the butchered animals and walk in a parade.  The incident occurred near TB Circle in Doddaballapur on the city’s northern outskirts. The vehicles were purportedly transporting beef to Bengaluru’s Shivajinagar area.

At first, a Bolero pickup was intercepted by alleged Sri Rama Sene activists around 5.30 am. The group beat up the driver and learnt from him that five more vehicles were on the way, according to the police.

In the next 10 minutes, the vigilantes called for reinforcements and blocked all other vehicles, police said.

The vigilantes, who numbered 16, forced the seven transporters to carry the butchered upper parts of the animals on their heads, while they raised Hindutva slogans and took videos. Meanwhile, some of the vigilantes set fire to a Tata Indigo car that belonged to the transporters. 

Mallikarjun Baladandi, Superintendent of Police, Bengaluru District, said they rushed to the spot after receiving information from a passerby.

“We reached there before things could get worse. We detained 16 miscreants and all the transporters. Based on the statements, we registered a complaint against the activists of Sri Ram Sene and arrested them,” he stated.

Police also resorted to a mild lathi-charge to disperse a crowd that had gathered there. 

Baladandi noted that at 8.45 am, a counter-complaint was filed by Pavan Swamy, president of the Sri Rama Sene, Doddaballapur, alleging that while they were following the trucks carrying beef, the transporters tried to run them over. He claimed that “at least 30 tonnes of beef” was being transported by the six vehicles. 

“Following Swamy’s complaint, we booked the seven men and arrested them,” Baladandi said. 

Activist knows transporter

An officer close to the investigation said an activist of the Sri Rama Sene knew a transporter well and had an idea about his routine transportation. Based on that lead, they intercepted the vehicles and created the whole scene, he added. 

The arrested activists are S Ramesh, Pavan Swamy, K C Prashanth, Devaraju, Kumar, Vijaykumar, Devaraju C, Manoj Kumar, R Rajesh, Manju Nayak, Ramesh, Jagadish, B Puneeth, Ajith N — all from Doddaballapur — Sundaresh Nargal from Vidyaranyapura and B V Nagaraj from Nagasandra. All are aged between 20 and 55 years.

They have been booked under Section 153A (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language, etc., and doing acts prejudicial to the maintenance of harmony).

The suspects arrested under the Prevention of Cow Slaughter Act are Zakir, S Kaleem Basha, Mahboob Pasha, Imran and Ajaz — all from Hindupur, Andhra Pradesh; Alijama, and Yasin, both from Gauribidanur.