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A day after a cow vigilante was shot at by a cattle transporter in Pocharam near Hyderabad, police have arrested three accused, including the alleged shooter, Ibrahim. Prashant, also known as Sonu Singh, a member of a cow protection group called Gau Raksha Dal, was injured after Ibrahim allegedly opened fire at him in Yamnampet under Pocharam IT Corridor police station limits on the evening of Wednesday, October 22.
Rachakonda Commissioner of Police G Sudheer Babu told the media that Ibrahim and Prashant had been in contact for months now, with Prashant tracking Ibrahim’s vehicles that were transporting cattle. He said there seemed to be an “unholy understanding” between the two. The Commissioner hinted that Prashant was possibly using the vehicle tracking information to extort money from Ibrahim by threatening to file police complaints.
The shooting occurred around 6.15 pm in Yamnampet, when Ibrahim allegedly opened fire on Prashant with a country-made pistol. Prashant is under treatment at a hospital in Secunderabad, where Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders visited him. BJP has alleged that Prashant was targeted for protecting cows.
According to the Rachakonda Commissioner, Prashant had been in contact with Ibrahim since July 26. He said that Ibrahim had been booked for alleged illegal cattle transports six different times based on complaints from Prashant. “Prashant had notified Ibrahim on many occasions that he was tracking his vehicles transporting cattle from various locations in Andhra Pradesh and other places. But he didn’t file complaints on all of these occasions,” the Commissioner said.
“They were not strangers. They had different perspectives and were part of contradicting systems, but there is a dichotomy in their activities and interactions. There is some unholy understanding between these people,” Sudheer Babu said.
According to the Commissioner, on the evening of October 22, it was Prashant who had asked Ibrahim to meet him at a restaurant in Yamnampet around 5 pm. Three others, Mohsin, Hanif, and Srinivas Yadav, were also present. Police arrested Ibrahim, Mohsin, and Srinivas in the early hours of October 23, while Hanif is still absconding. The Commissioner said Srinivas seemed to be a mediator between the two parties.
“Srinivas told us that they were also interacting for some personal gains,” the Commissioner said.
After discussing for about an hour, Ibrahim shot at Prashant, the police said. “Ibrahim has been in the cattle transport for about 12 years. He was upset that Prashant was causing losses for him by revealing information to the police,” Sudheer Babu said.
While Ibrahim is a resident of Bahadurpura, Prashant, who is originally from Attapur, had been living in Pocharam for a while, police said.
BJP Telangana president N Ramchander Rao, BJP MP G Kishan Reddy and others have alleged that the accused are affiliated with the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) and were being protected by the Congress government. However, the Commissioner refused to answer whether Ibrahim had links to any political party.
“We also respect cows, but we have to handle the case professionally. Since the issue has turned sensational, we wanted to demystify it,” the Commissioner told the media at a press meet announcing the arrests on October 23.