Punjab Police on Sunday filed an FIR against 'Gau Raksha Dal' chief Satish Kumar under different sections in connection with a social media video showing organisation members “brutally” thrashing people in the name of cow protection.
An FIR was lodged under various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC); however, Kumar is yet to be arrested.
"We are checking the authenticity of the video footage that is with us,” said Patiala SSP Gurmeet Chauhan. “The video shows Gau Raksha Dal members brutally thrashing people in the name of cow protection, he told Chandigarh Tribune.
Punjab DGP Suresh Arora said, “Nobody will be allowed to carry out unlawful activities under the garb of gau rakshaks. We have registered a couple of cases and asked the district officers to ensure the rule of the law. No one can be targeted just for transporting cows."
The development comes a day afer Prime MInister Narendra Modi's public denouncement of cow vigilantes, some of whom flogged dalits in Gujarat for skinning a dead cow, Modi on Saturday said in Delhi he felt enraged at such "anti-social elements" who indulged in crimes by the night and masqueraded as cow protectors by the day.
“The people, who are troubled by the unity of the society, are in the name of ‘gau rakshaks’ attempting to create friction the society. I urge my fellow countrymen to be aware of such ‘gau rakshaks’,” he said.
He said, “I am very much angry on those who have opened their occupation in the name of ‘Gau Raksha’ (cow protection). There are many ‘Gau Rakshaks’ (cow protectors). They protect cows to hide their illegal occupations. Cows mostly die of eating plastic bags and these gau rakshaks should urge people not to throw plastics on the roads. This will be a big sewa,” he said.
