Mangaluru: Govt seizes property of habitual cattle theft offender

Mangaluru: In a first of its kind legal action in Dakshina Kannada district, Bantwal rural police seized the property of a habitual offender involved in cattle theft based on the orders of Assistant Commissioner of Mangaluru Sub-Division.

The accused habitual cattle lifter was identified as Hasanabba of Maripalla Padi, Pudu village, in Bantwal Taluk. Police sources said Hasanabba is an accused in three cases registered against him in 2017, 2018, and 2025 for stealing cattle and slaughtering them illegally at a makeshift abattoir built near his house.

He was arrested in the case registered in 2025. In this particular case, police had booked him under Section 303 of BNS and Sections 4, 7 and 12, and 11 (D) of the Karnataka Prevention of Slaughter and Preservation of Cattle Act, 2020. The accused had converted a portion of his house into an illegal abattoir.

Police had submitted a report to the Assistant Commissioner recommending that the illegal abattoir at his house be confiscated. Thus the government took possession of his property (house numbers 6-54 and 6-54 (1)) on September 30 based on the Assistant Commissioner’s order issued on September 25, sources added.