Gau rakshaks attack farmhouse, destroy property over qurbani; victims booked

Bengaluru, Sep 15: This is not a story from strife-torn Uttar Pradesh or Gujarat. This happened in a relatively peaceful village in Bengaluru district of Congress ruled Karnataka, where Muslims celebrated Eid-ul-Adha, the festival of sacrifice, earlier this week.

A group of around 100 miscreants armed with stones, and sticks laid siege to a farmhouse on Jigani Main Road under the limits of Begur police station about 25km from the heart of the city on Wednesday afternoon, alleging that a cow had been slaughtered inside.

Trapped inside the isolated house for more than two hours, the family members denied they slaughter the cow and said they sacrificed a bull on the day of Eid-ul-Adha (Bakrid) to accomplish qurbani ritual.

The so called gau rakshaks, who apparently belong to saffron groups, attacked the five-acre farm around 1:30 pm. They vandalized their family's car, bike and other property on the farm premises. Waseem Ahmed, the eldest son of the family, said he had gone outside when the attackers called him.

"When I reached the home, they were burying the bull while the police had arrived and listening to the mob. My parents and two brothers had been locked inside the house for over two hours. We were then taken to the jurisdictional Begur police station where we were made to stay till 11pm. Our phones were taken away as well," he said.

He further said if anyone had a problem with the slaughter, they should have called the police instead of storming their farmhouse. Police have not acted against any member of the mob which comprised mostly of locals.

Police, in the meanwhile, said they have recorded the family's statement and are ascertaining whether the family had relevant permissions for slaughter.
Superintendent of Police, Bengaluru Rural Amit Singh on Thursday said they collected samples of the animal to verify what it was and its age. "We have taken up a case against the family under cow slaughter laws," he said.

The family members were released on Thursday night on bail, Singh said, adding that they will investigate if there was any vandalism and take action against the culprits. Singh also claimed the situation is under control and police had reached the spot in time.

Ironically, the police neither arrested any of the miscreants who threatened the family and destroyed their property in the name of cow protection nor booked any case against them so far.