Tension prevailed in the Karmanghat area in Hyderabad after some cow vigilantes tried to stop alleged transportation of cattle. Police sent additional forces to the area and brought the situation under control on the night of Tuesday, February 22. The Hindu cow vigilantes alleged that they were attacked, and sent out messages asking people to gather at the Hanuman temple in Karmanghat.
The incident occurred when a group of youths claiming to be ‘gau rakshaks’ tried to chase a truck carrying cattle in Karmanghat on Tuesday, February 22. The youth who were in a car alleged that the truck deliberately hit their vehicle.
Rumours of an attack on a place of worship spread through social media which heightened the tension. Senior police officers rushed to the area and dispersed the mob, which had gathered after receiving messages about an attack. Cow vigilantes alleged that they were attacked by the people transporting the cattle. Several members of various Hindu organisations gathered at the location and staged a protest demanding action against the alleged attackers.
With rumours being spread of an alleged attack on a temple, senior police officers rushed to the area and pacified the mob which had gathered there. Police said the situation was immediately brought under control and no untoward incident was reported.
According to a press note from Rachakonda police, a total of five cases were booked in Meerpet and Saroornagar police stations and several people were arrested on February 23 in relation to the Karmanghat incident. According to police officials, the Hindu activists protesting near the temple resorted to stone pelting and a few police officials were injured and police vehicles were damaged as a result.
Several men from the various Hindu groups who were at the protest were booked in two separate cases, based on complaints from Sub-Inspectors of Vanasthalipuram and Saroornagar police stations. The accused — Koti Mayuresh, Raju, Kedhar Singh, Kunal, Hansaraj, Naresh, V Kumar, Shankar and others — were booked under Sections 143 (punishment for unlawful assembly), 147 (punishment for rioting), 148 (rioting, armed with deadly weapon), 341 (punishment for wrongful restraint), 332 (voluntarily causing hurt to deter public servant from his duty), 307 (attempt to murder) r/w 149 and 427 (mischief causing damage to the amount of fifty rupees) of the Indian Penal Code, and Section 3 in The Prevention of Damage to Public Property Act.
In the case of altercation between the cow vigilantes and cattle transporters, based a complaint from Koti Mayuresh, a member of the protesting cow vigilante groups, a case was registered against seven men under section 307, 295A, 153A, 427, 341, 147, 148 r/w 149 IPC and Section 11, 38(3) of Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act. The accused include a father and son duo, Mohammed Yousuf and Nissar, who run a beef shop, and were transporting calves and buffalo calves in a Bolero vehicle. The cow vigilantes claimed that they tried to question them, and followed them and stopped them at Karmanghat. They alleged that the men transporting cattle attacked them with iron rods and followed them when the vigilantes escaped into the Hanuman temple. These seven accused were apprehended on February 22 night and sent to judicial remand and lodged in Cherlapally jail. The calves were seized and handed over to the cow vigilante group Yuga Tulasi foundation.
In-charge Director General Police of Telangana Anjani Kumar along with other senior officers held a review meeting with senior police officials to review the incident. “It has been resolved that firm action will be taken against the communal offenders and those who are trying to disturb communal situation in the state,” a press note from the DGP’s office said.
In December 2020, around 15 cows which were being transported in a van were stopped and sent to a cow shelter, with the intervention of cow vigilante groups and BJP MLA Raja Singh. The controversial legislator alleged that the cows were being transported to a slaughter house and chased down the vehicle and handed over the driver to the Choutuppal police.