Accused Pramod Salian is said to be an active BJP worker, who campaigned for local MLA Harish Poonja in the Assembly elections held in May.
Published Jul 14, 2023 | 11:14 PM ⚊ Updated Jul 14, 2023 | 11:21 PM
The men were reportedly transporting six cows and two male calves to Dharmasthala from Ujjire. (Representational photo/Supplied)
A BJP worker was among four people arrested for illegally transporting cows and calves in the Belthangady town of the Dakshina Kannada district of Karnataka, the Dharmasthala police said on Friday, 14 July.
Identifying the accused as Pramod Salian of Navoor, Pushparaj of Ulagadde (both in Belthangady), Channakeshava of Hassan’s Arakalgu, and Sandeep Hirebelaguli of Holenarasipura in the same district, the police said the men were arrested on the intervening night of Wednesday and Thursday (12 and 13 July).
Sources in Belthangady identified Salian as a BJP worker who had actively campaigned for MLA Harish Poonja in the Karnataka Assembly elections that were held in May.
The four men were arrested based on a tip-off received by Dharmasthala Sub-Inspector Anil Kumar.
The police were informed that the cattle were being transported in two pick-up trucks and a mid-sized goods vehicle.
The men were reportedly transporting six cows and two male calves to the temple town of Dharmasthala from the nearby town of Ujjire, both in the Dakshina Kannada district.
The police flagged down the vehicles near Kanyaid Ram Mandir and found the bovines being transported without any documents.
The accused were booked under the relevant sections of the Karnataka Prevention of Slaughter and Preservation of Cattle Act of 2020.
Quoting the statement of the accused, a senior police official told South First that the herd, according to the accused, was to be eventually transported to Hassan district for farming and dairy purposes.
The accused told the police officers that the herd was not being transported for slaughter.
“Since they were not carrying any documents, they were booked under the Anti-Cow Slaughter Act,” the official clarified.
However, Suhan Alva, the Mangaluru district president of the Congress’ student wing National Students’ Union of India (NSUI), said there was an unholy nexus between right-wing activists and cattle-rearers in the Dakshina Kannada district.
“The BJP has been in power in Belthangady since 2018. Whenever cattle rearers want to dispose of their unproductive cattle, they approach these right-wingers like Pramod Salian, who is an active BJP worker in Belthangady town, and get the cattle trafficked to Goa, Kerala, and also to different districts of Karnataka,” he told South First.
“These illegal transports are done for monetary gains and these are the people who claim to be gau rakshaks — saviour of cows,” said Alva.
He added that barring Salian, the three others had been booked for the same offence in 2020.
