Cattle trader lynching: 4 teams to nab Kerehalli
Punith Kerehalli, is accused of lynching Idrees Pasha (39) -- an assistant driver of a cattle transport vehicle, in Sathanur police station limits on early on Saturday morning.
Published: 04th April 2023 07:03 AM | Last Updated: 04th April 2023 07:03 AM | A+A A-
Idrees Pasha(L) , Punith Kerehalli
BENGALURU: The Ramanagara district police have formed four teams to arrest right-wing activist Punith Kerehalli, who is accused of lynching Idrees Pasha (39) -- an assistant driver of a cattle transport vehicle, in Sathanur police station limits on early on Saturday morning.
“The accused are yet to be arrested. A team of doctors from the Department of Forensic Medicine has conducted the postmortem and we are waiting for the report to ascertain the exact cause of (Pasha’s) death. Only the postmortem report will shed light on the exact cause of the death,” BR Ravikanthe Gowda, Inspector General of Police (IGP), Central Range, told The New Indian Express.
One team is headed by the inspector of Sathanur police station, while the other by the DySP of the sub-division, and two others by the sub-division police. Kerehalli along with four others have been booked for murder after the body of Pasha was found a stone’s throw away from the Sathanur police station.
Kerehalli demanded Rs 2 lakh from victim
The alleged incident took place in the early hours of Saturday. Mandya resident Pasha’s body was found hours after he, along with Irfan (37) and driver Syed Zaheer (40), was allegedly waylaid by Kerehalli and his associates around 12.30 am on Saturday near Santemala Circle while transporting around 15 cattle in a vehicle.
Sensing danger, Pasha and Irfan escaped. Zaheer was caught and allegedly assaulted. Kerehalli is alleged to have demanded Rs 2 lakh and threatened to finish him off if he didn’t pay them.
Although Zaheer tried to explain to Kerehalli and four others that the cattle were purchased and were being taken to Krishnagiri in Tamil Nadu for sale, the accused allegedly assaulted him. The police rushed to the spot and took both parties to the station, where Kerehalli lodged a complaint against them for illegal transport of cattle. A counter-complaint was also filed against Kerehalli.
On Saturday morning, Pasha’s body was found a few hundred metres away from the police station. The body bore marks of torture. It is yet to be ascertained whether Kerehalli and his associates had chased Pasha after waylaying the vehicle carrying cattle. Pasha’s family members staged a protest in front of the police station demanding the immediate arrest of the alleged killers. The police have booked Kerehalli and four others for murder.
