The perpetrators had reportedly removed parts of the cow's body and killed the unborn calf. A formal complaint has been filed at the Honnavar police station.
Published Jan 20, 2025 | 6:19 PM ⚊ Updated Jan 20, 2025 | 6:26 PM
A screengrab of a video showing the remains of the slain cattle (Supplied)
A pregnant cow and its unborn calf were found brutally murdered on 19 January in Karnataka’s Uttara Kannada district.
The cattle, belonging to Krishna Achari, a resident of Kondadakuli village of Honnavar taluk, reportedly went missing after being let out to graze.
Upon searching, villagers discovered the cow’s mutilated body with its head severed and legs cut off. The perpetrators had reportedly removed parts of the body and killed the unborn calf. A formal complaint has been filed at the Honnavar police station.
Speaking to South First, Karwar Superintendent of Police Narayana M said that while they currently don’t have concrete leads, experts have confirmed the method of killing suggests human involvement rather than wildlife attack.
“Previously, more than 10 to 15 cows have gone missing, with 80 percent of cases attributed to leopard and wildlife activities. However, given the nature of this incident, we have reasons to believe it was carried out by cattle smugglers,” he added.
The SP elaborated that the incident occurred in a forest area with no proper approach roads. A special investigation team has been formed under DSP Mahesh’s leadership. The police have invoked the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act.
“We are pursuing three lines of inquiry: investigating people previously involved in cattle smuggling, analysing technical details, and verifying where beef is being sold in these areas,” the SP explained.
“Previously in this division, we arrested five to six people who were stealing cows and selling them to beef stalls,” the SP noted, adding that despite there being a significant Muslim population in the area, Islamic law forbids consuming meat from stolen cattle.
This is the second incident of cattle mutilation in the state this month, following the severing of udders of three cows in Vinayak Nagar neighbourhood of Bengaluru earlier this month. Police arrested one person, a migrant from Bihar, for the act.
Opposition Leader R Ashoka linked both incidents and alleged that “fundamentalist forces” were exploiting the Congress government’s “ineffective” administration to carry out these attacks against Hindus.
“Fundamentalist forces, capitalising on the weakness of the Congress government which has become ineffective due to appeasement and chaos, are challenging Hindus by attacking cows. CM Siddaramaiah, looking at these repeated attacks on cows, it appears there is a large network behind this,” he wrote in a post on X.
“It seems to be a major jihadi conspiracy by fundamentalist forces and religious extremists. If the government doesn’t take this extremely seriously and put a stop to these misdeeds, there will have to be intense protests across the state – this is a warning.”
(Edited by Dese Gowda with inputs from Nolan Patrick Pinto)
