Yaseen, a 43-year-old lorry driver and six others sat on the ground, holding severed cattle heads in their hands and chanting ‘Jai Sri Ram’. Even as this ‘punishment’ was being meted out to them in Doddaballapura, a town near Bengaluru, their vehicles were vandalised, and a car set on fire by a bunch of Sri Rama Sene activists on September 24. And while all this happened close to a police station, the police say they were unaware of the incident till 45mins after it happened. Police and residents of the town are blaming Sri Rama Sene Chief Pramod Muthalik for inciting the violence against Muslims.
In his address on August 30 at Doddaballapura, Muthalik specifically targeted Muslims and Christians, issuing threats against consumption of beef. “If you don’t adhere to this country’s rules, we may have to ask you to leave for Pakistan,” he said.
He further warned, “Remember, even if a single cow is stolen or harmed in Doddaballapura, we, the members of Sri Rama Sene, will stage a protest to safeguard Gou mata. I am making this announcement today,” he declared and added, “I am cautioning you, Muslims, today.” Muthalik, notorious for his divisive rhetoric and actions, gained national and international attention in 2009 for a violent attack on a pub in Mangaluru. Sri Rama Sene members physically assaulted young men and women who were inside, claiming that the women were violating traditional values. Muthalik remains most influential in the northern region of Karnataka, but has been building the Sri Rama Sene in other districts too. A month after this speech, Yaseen and his friends became Sri Rama Sene’s first targets.
What transpired on September 24
Yaseen, a meat dealer, was transporting beef from Hindupur in Andhra Pradesh to Bengaluru’s Shivajinagar. Around 4:00 am, near Kantanakunte in Doddaballapura, Yaseen's SUV was abruptly stopped by a group of people who came in cars and motorcycles. Upon discovering beef in the vehicle, Yaseen was asked if he was alone. He confirmed that four trucks were en route. The activists then intercepted all the vehicles, confiscated the drivers' phones and their money. They were assaulted.
Around 5 am, the Sri Rama Sene members took the drivers to TB Circle, around 2km away and the assault continued. The Sri Rama Sene members threw the meat onto the street and smashed the windows of the trucks. They then stuffed all the meat into a Tata Indigo car that belonged to another meat dealer and set the car ablaze. The drivers were verbally abused and physically assaulted, they were made to chant ‘Jai Sri Ram’ while holding the severed cattle heads on their heads.
Eyewitnesses say that as chaos broke out, around 100 people gathered. The drivers were beaten up with sticks as the crowd watched.
Sundaresh Naragal, the Sri Ram Sene member who led the attack, claims that the group received information about a potential beef smuggling operation from Hindupur to Bengaluru. Acting on this tip-off, they intercepted Yaseen’s car near a toll plaza in Doddaballapura, he says.
TB Circle, where the elaborate assault played out, is a mere 450 meters from the Doddaballapura town police station. Despite the gravity of the situation unfolding at 5:00 am, police assistance did not arrive until after 5:45 am. The police claimed that they had not been alerted about the incident and that the night patrol police were deployed elsewhere at the time of the incident.
Preliminary police investigations revealed a twist in the story- which was contrary to Sundaresh Naragal’s claims. The attackers were acquainted with the meat transporters and were familiar with their routine. Devaraju, one of the Sri Rama Sene members, had allegedly extorted money from them on previous occasions. The police said that he had also demanded money from Yaseen and when Yaseen refused, Devaraju threatened to obstruct the vehicle's passage.
A police officer said there were more people involved in the incident, and the police were trying to locate them. The attackers had patrolled the highway, obstructed vehicles and intimidated drivers under the pretense of conducting vehicle checks. He added that the same group robbed an ice cream truck driver on the same stretch of the road hours before they vandalised vehicles carrying beef.
The police said that the beef transporters did not possess the necessary documentation required under Karnataka's cow slaughter law. Many cow vigilante groups exploit this law, which prohibits cattle meat transportation for slaughter, except for terminally ill cattle and buffaloes above the age of 13. Even legal cattle transportation has become perilous due to the actions of self-proclaimed 'cow protectors.'
The police have also booked the seven cattle meat transporters for illegal transportation of cattle meat and seized the vehicles and 18 tonnes of meat.
A case has been registered against the members of Sri Rama Sene under various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), including Section 143 (unlawful assembly), Section 147 (rioting), Section 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), Section 324 (voluntarily causing hurt by dangerous weapons), Section 341 (wrongful restraint), Section 384 (extortion), Section 435 (mischief by fire), Section 153(A) (promoting enmity between different groups), and Section 149 (common intention). The police have arrested 14 people including members of Sri Rama Sene, Sundaresh Nargal from Vidyaranyapura and B V Nagaraj from Nagasandra, S Ramesh, Pavan Swamy, K C Prashanth, Devaraju, Kumar, Vijaykumar, Devaraju C, Manoj Kumar, R Rajesh, Manju Nayak, Ramesh, Jagadish, B Puneeth, Ajith N — all from Doddaballapur.
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