‘Gau rakshaks’ assault man suspected to be transporting buffaloes in Deodar

Inspector D B Chaudhary from Agathala police station – where the FIR in the case was lodged on July 22 – identified the men as gau rakshaks.

Akherajsinh Parbatsinh Vaghela, Chelsinh Sujansinh Solanki, Ishwarbhai Mulshankarbhai Purohit and Mahendrasinh Vadansinh Solanki were arrested after the FIR was lodged following a complaint filed by a person named Sorabkhan Baloch (35). “They later got bail,” Chaudhary said.

In his complaint, Sorabkhan alleged that he, along with another man, Umedkhan Baloch – both from Sesan Nava village – were headed towards Charotar with three buffaloes in a pick-up van on July 22 morning when they were signalled to stop by some men in a Scorpio.

He claimed that he did not stop and sped towards Deesa, where the Scorpio intercepted their truck. The four men in the Scorpio then allegedly approached with sticks and started hitting Sorabkhan and Umedkhan. Sorabkhan claimed that while he ran away and hid, the four men continued assaulting Umedkhan till they drove off.

Chaudhary said, “As gau rakshaks, the accused are sensitive towards animal cruelty in general and the incident occurred because they suspected the buffaloes were being taken to the slaughterhouse.”

Banaskantha SP Akshayraj Makwana, however, said, “The accused are practically unemployed people masquerading as gau rakshaks. They also have a past criminal record. It is not that they are working for gau raksha but are rather looking to create law and order situation.”

“We are taking strict preventive action against those who assaulted the men to ensure that an incident like this is not repeated,” he added.

The purported video of the assault shows three men taking turns with two sticks to thrash a man, who is held to the ground. One of the three men can also be seen holding a sharp knife-like weapon in his hand. The victim is seen with his T-shirt torn, trying to sit up and then lying down on the ground, as the men continue assaulting him even as he begs for mercy. The attackers are then heard saying to him repeatedly, “Say Jai Shri Ram”, while verbally and physically abusing him.

The accused have been booked under sections 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 294 (b) (utters obscenity), 506 (2) (criminal intimidation) and 114 (abetment) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). A senior officer said, “Since no one was injured, we cannot invoke IPC sections pertaining to grievous hurt.”

Meanwhile, a second FIR was also lodged in connection to the incident on July 22 based on a complaint filed by a person named Pravinsinh Vaghela (25). He had alleged that he, along with others, had gone to a temple when they received information that buffaloes are being taken to Deesa for slaughter. Vaghela claimed they kept watch at a bus stand for the pick-up van. He added that when they spotted the pick-up van and waved at it to stop, the van sped away.

While no one has been named as an accused in the FIR lodged under sections 279 (rash driving) of the IPC and under subsections of Section 11 (treating animals cruelly) of the Prevention to Animal Cruelty Act, it contained the details of the pick-up van.

Chaudhary said, “We have seized the van and sent the animals to panjrapole. We have not initiated any action against the van driver (Sorabkhan and Umedkhan), as they are recovering. We will initiate necessary proceedings once they are well.”