Karnataka ‘cow vigilante’, accused of killing cattle van driver, shot to fame with Facebook Live videos on attacks on minorities

A murder case has been registered against a group of cow vigilantes, who allegedly tortured and killed a cattle van driver on the outskirts of Bengaluru

A murder case was registered late on Saturday night against a group of self-styled cow vigilantes, who allegedly tortured and killed the 39-year-old assistant driver of a van transporting cattle on the outskirts of Bengaluru early that morning. Idrees Pasha was found dead in Sathanur village of Kanakapura taluk, just hours after the vigilante gang intercepted and allegedly attacked the van’s three occupants.

The deceased’s last rites were held on Sunday, with his brother Yunus Pasha alleging that the body had several “burn injuries and wounds indicating he was tortured and killed”. Acting on his complaint, Sathanur police registered a murder case against vigilante leader Puneeth Kerehalli, who is absconding, and his associates.

The incident occurred in Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee president D.K. Shivakumar’s Kanakapura constituency days ahead of the State’s Assembly election, triggering a political slugfest. Tweeting photos of the accused with several prominent BJP leaders including Karnataka Home Minister Araga Jnanendra, the Opposition Congress and Janata Dal (Secular) have accused the ruling BJP of fostering such elements to disturb communal harmony in the State.

Idrees Pasha, a resident of Mandya, was assisting Syed Zaheer, 40, who was driving the van belonging to a cattle trader Irfan. The trio loaded the cows they reportedly bought at a cattle fair in Maddur on Friday evening, and were on their way to Tamil Nadu when Mr. Kerehalli and his associates intercepted the vehicle at Santemala Circle in Sathanur past midnight. 

The accused, who shot to fame with Facebook Live videos of such cow vigilantism and attacks on minorities over the past few years, posted a live video of the incident, now deleted from his social media account, but accessed by The Hindu. In the video, Mr. Kerehalli is heard saying that all the occupants of the van fled from the scene as soon as they intercepted it and that “his boys had gone chasing them to nab them”. 

Later in the night, police sources said that the gang of cow vigilantes brought Mr. Zaheer, the driver of the vehicle, to the Sathanur police station, where he was booked under the Karnataka Prevention of Slaughter and Preservation of Cattle Act, 2020. Based on Mr. Zaheer’s complaint, they also registered a case against Mr. Kerehalli and his associates under Section 341 (wrongful restraint) of the Indian Penal Code. That FIR, a copy of which The Hindu has accessed, said that the driver alleged that the vigilante had hurled abuses at him and handed him over to the police, even as the other two men from the vehicle fled. Even as Mr. Zaheer was detained, Mr. Kerehalli was let go, sources said. 

Hours later, around 8:00 a.m. on Saturday, Mr. Pasha’s friends and family who had been searching for him found his body in a prostrate position in a nearby bush. “I was in Mandya when my friends told me they had found the body of Idrees,” Yunus Pasha said. “As part of the last rites we gave him a bath and noticed there were multiple burn marks all over his body and bruises on his head, which indicate he was tortured and killed,” he told The Hindu.