Following the attack on a gaurakshak in Nanded reported yesterday, the Maharashtra Police have arrested 5 of the 10 accused persons identified as Salim Qureshi, Babu Thekedar, Asif Hasan, Salim Autowala, Anis, Shoaib Sheikh, Ejaz, Sohail Sheikh, Moin, Sanjay Gaikwad.
Nanded Police SP Shreekrishna Kokate confirmed the incident and said that the police have registered the case against 10 people in this matter and have arrested five of them.
The incident happened on June 29 at around 6:30 pm. A gaurakshak identified as Pradyumn Chaudhari alias Sonu was brutally attacked by around 10 people with iron rods and sharp weapons in the Mahur region of the Nanded district. The accused persons also threatened the Hindu activist after he tried to stop the sacrifice of bulls on the occasion of Bakrid.
As per SP Shreekrishna Kokate, Sonu works for a Hindu organisation and is also a cow vigilante in Nanded. “There were some issues over his Facebook post also. On June 29, he saw a person named Sanjay Gaikwad going with two bulls. Sonu sought documents from Gaikwad to know about the actual owner of the bulls. Gaikwad then happened to call Salim Qureshi who called other of his friends from his community. Sonu was also with his three more friends out of which two of them left from the spot to call the police. Salim with a group of his associates then attacked Sonu. The police reached the spot immediately after being informed but till then the accused had fled away. Sonu has attained some serious head injuries. He was shifted to the hospital and is out of danger now,” the SP was quoted as saying.
The police have also asked the people to maintain communal harmony and peace. It has asked the activists to not take the law in their hands against the smugglers and allow the police to take action. “I request people if you get any inputs of any wrongdoing please do not take the law in hand and inform the police. Specifically the cow vigilante, we request them not to take any action against any smugglers inform police first and allow police to take action,” Kokate said.
One of the VHP leaders Sriraj Nair commented on the issue and said that the Hindu activists are constantly attacked in Nanded for saving the cows. “We have been taking up this with several governments. We request the current govt to take serious action against those who are involved in the killings and attacks on cow vigilantes, we have lost several cow vigilantes in Nanded, and there is continuous smuggling that happens in Nanded. The cows are smuggled from Nanded to Telangana. If the govt doesn’t take action, we will keep losing our VHP and Bajrang dal gaurakshak members,” Nair said while talking to Republic TV.
Earlier, a similar case was reported from Kinwat taluka in Maharashtra’s Nanded district where around 8 gaurakshaks were brutally attacked by Muslims with sharp weapons and sticks on the night of June 19 killing one and injuring five. The accused had been booked under sections 302, 307, 143, 147, 148, 159, and 427 of the IPC and sections 4 and 7 of the Arms Act.
The victims were attacked while they stopped a car on suspicion of beef transport. Around 15-20 Muslims got down the car and then attacked the Hindu activists. Later the police arrested Sheikh Isaak Sheikh Chand (38), Sheikh Amer Sheikh Alim (30), Sheikh Mujahid Sheikh Isak (22) and Sheikh Mujemir Sheikh Fayaz (23) in the case.
The accused persons then were supposed to be associated to the Sheikh Rafiq Mehboob gang in Nanded. It was reported that Sheikh Rafiq Mehboob has a huge hold on illegal guthka trade in the city and around the Shivni area. He also is said to be associated with the PFI organization which has been banned by the Indian government.
In the given case, the police has arrested 5 persons and has booked around 10 of them under section 307, 395 of the Indian Penal Code and under section 5A, 5B of the Maharashtra Animal Preservation Act, 1976 and also under section 11(1)(d) of the Animal Cruelty Act, 1960.
