KOLAR: Sri Rama Sene activists waylaid five vehicles carrying beef and forced those in the vehicles to carry chopped heads of animals on their heads and to chant ‘Jai Sri Ram’. The incident occurred near Gauribidanur in Chikkaballapur district early on Sunday morning. The activists also set fire to a car that was reportedly escorting the vehicles. As mobs gathered, the police resorted to lathicharge to bring the situation under control.
IGP (Central Range) BR Ravikanthae Gowda said three cases have been registered in connection with the incident -- two at the Doddaballapur town police station and one at the cybercrime police station against a person who recorded the video and uploaded it on social media.
Sources said the incident occurred around 5:15 a.m. on Sunday. The five vehicles and one car escorting them were transporting beef illegally from Hindupur in Andhra Pradesh to Bengaluru, through Gauribidanur and Doddaballapur, they added.
Police arrest 16 people
Sri Rama Sene activists stopped the vehicles at Gunjoor toll near Gauribidanur, where a heated exchange took place between the activists and those in the vehicles. At Doddaballapur, scores of Sene activists gathered and waylaid the vehicles.
They raised slogans and made those in the vehicles carry the chopped heads of cows on their heads. Ravikanthe Gowda said the police rushed to the spot, caned and dispersed the mob. A case has been registered against Sene activists for setting the car on fire. In all, 16 people have been arrested in this connection.
Of them, seven are those transporting beef illegally, while one is a person who recorded the video and uploaded it on social media, he said. Additional police forces have been deployed in Doddaballapur town to avoid any untoward incident.