Five cow vigilantes sent to 7-day police custody

Bengaluru: A court in Karnataka's Kanakapura on Monday sent five cow vigilantes to police custody for seven days in connection with a case in which a Muslim man was allegedly beaten to death for transporting cows and buffaloes illegally.

The judge Appanna Savadi pronounced the order after the accused were produced before him.

Karnataka Police had arrested the cow vigilantes and Hindu activists including main accused Puneeth Kerehalli, who ran Raastra Rakshana Pade, from Rajasthan on April 5 - five days after the body of the victim was found on April 1.

The group headed by accused Puneeth Kerehalli had waylaid a canter transporting cows and buffaloes in the limits of Sathanur police station in Ramnagar district on March 31. They had claimed that the cows and buffaloes were transported illegally.

On April 1, 35-year-old Idris Pasha, a resident of Guttalu near Sathanur, who was in the canter was found dead at the spot. The family of Idris Pasha alleged that he was beaten to death by Puneeth Kerehalli and others.

The family had lodged a complaint in this regard under IPC Sections 341 (wrongful restraint), 504 (intentional insult, giving provocation), 506 (criminal intimidation), 324 (voluntarily causing hurt by dangerous weapons), 302 (murder), 34 (criminal act done by several persons in furtherance of common intention).