A case of Muslim men allegedly stealing and slaughtering a cow has come to light from Khushalpur village in Uttarakhand’s Sahaspur area. As per reports, Kurban a resident of the village lodged a complaint at Sahaspur Police Station on Friday alleging that, his cow was stolen. The complainant Kurban also alleged that the accused in the matter had threatened to kill him if he decided to report the matter to the police.
Reports claimed that, following the investigation, the police found that Salman, Amir, Ameeran, and Furkan all belonging to the same village had stolen and slaughtered the cow. Following raids by the police, they managed to arrest 24-year-old Furkan. His subsequent interrogation led the police to the cow’s remains which were then sent for analysis.
A case has been registered against the four under the cow protection law, and sections 506 and 380 of the IPC which pertain to criminal intimidation and theft respectively. A manhunt has been launched to arrest the three other accused. The police have claimed that the accused have a history of cow slaughter related offences and have been imprisoned seven times in the past.
Even though the media’s focus has been lopsided in favour of crimes committed by so-called “gau rakshaks” there have been numerous instances of criminal activities perpetrated by cow thieves and smugglers.
The region of Dehradun near to Sahaspur area had recently seen the arrest of a man for using a dairy compound for smuggling and slaughtering bovines. About a week back in the same city, the police arrested Iqbal, Gulfam and Mehendi for allegedly running an illegal slaughterhouse. Six cows were rescued from Iqbal’s house, which was later sealed.
Besides this, it was reported in October 2017, how a team of court commissioners, lawyers, police and NGO members were attacked by a 250 men strong mob, while they were cracking down on illegal slaughterhouses operating in Bangalore. A few days before that, a women techie was brutally assaulted by a 150-200 strong mob in the city’s Avalahalli area, after she reported an instance of cow slaughter from the region.
