Pune: There was heavy police deployment in Shrigonda taluk of Ahmednagar district on Sunday, after a group of ‘gau rakshaks’ (cow vigilantes) were allegedly assaulted by a mob, after they accused some people of illicitly transporting cows to a slaughterhouse.
According to the police, the complaint has been lodged by Shivshankar Rajendra Swami, one of the ‘gau rakshaks’. The complain says that the incident occurred late on Saturday when a group of 15-20 people had come to Shrigonda Taluk to look for vehicles to illegally transport cows to an animal market being held in Kashti village.
According to the complaint, the ‘gau rakshaks’, said to be activists of the Akhil Bharat Krushi Gosewa Sangh, caught a tempo allegedly carrying cows from Pune and took the drivers to the Shrigonda police station. A dozen cows were said to have been retrieved from the vehicle.
When the ‘gau rakshaks’ stepped out of the police station after lodging their complaint, around 25 men allegedly assaulted them with sticks and pelted them with stones.
Seven people hurt
Seven of the ‘gau rakshaks’ were said to be seriously injured.
The owner of the tempo, Wahid Shaikh, and the driver, Raju Shaikh, have been arrested under the Maharashtra Animal Preservation Act. Around a dozen of the alleged attackers were also detained during the course of the day.
‘Situation under control’
Police on Sunday said the situation in Shrigonda was tense, but under control. The administration has stepped up the security arrangements throughout the district given the sensitive nature of the incident.
Authorities said they were recording statements of the detained people, and more arrests are likely to take place.
The seven injured ‘gau rakshaks’ have been shifted to Ahmednagar city from Shrigonda for medical treatment.