Follow TNM's WhatsApp channel for news updates and story links.
A truck, allegedly used to transport meat, was intercepted and set on fire by members of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) and Bajrang Dal near Kudachi in Belagavi district, Karnataka, on the night of September 22. The incident occurred near Sri Siddeshwara Temple on the Ugar–Ainapur road in Athani taluk, around 100 km from Belagavi.
Police said members of VHP and Bajrang Dal stopped the truck on suspicion that it was carrying beef, allegedly around five tonnes, from Kudachi to Hyderabad. The mob assaulted the driver and, after claiming to have found several tonnes of beef inside, torched the vehicle. By the time police arrived, the truck had been gutted. Fire and Emergency Services personnel, aided by staff from the Ugar Sugar Factory, managed to extinguish the blaze.
Belagavi Superintendent of Police Bheemashankar S Guled said that two separate cases have been registered. The first case was booked under the Karnataka Prevention of Slaughter and Preservation of Cattle Act and the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act against three persons allegedly involved in transporting the meat.
The second case was registered against six people allegedly involved in torching the truck, under provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) relating to arson and robbery, as well as the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.
In total, nine persons have been arrested so far, three for transporting the alleged beef and six for the arson and assault. Investigations into both cases are ongoing.