In Nagpur, Maharashtra, an incident of cow vigilante violence has come as a truck transporting cattle was reportedly chased recklessly by cow vigilantes, leading to a dangerous accident. The driver, who is Muslim, and another man who was travelling in the truck, were subsequently tied with ropes by the vigilantes before being handed over to the police. There is no information as to whether the men chasing the vehicle and assaulting the men in the truck were arrested or charged with a complaint.
A harrowing video allegedly from the incident shows young men in two big cars can following a truck. The video was recorded by one of the people in the cars and shows a young man emerge from the video of the speeding car and gesture and hoot loudly at the truck.
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Apart from this video, uploaded on X’s, formerly Twitter, Hate Detector’s page, a truck which is turned upside down can be seen and alongside it, two young men can be seen tied up on the ground, with one of the men surrounding them holding the string.
This is from #SamruddhiMahamarg, #Nagpur, #Maharashtra.
Cow vigilantes dangerously chased a truck transporting cattle resulting in an accident. A #Muslim driver and another occupant were then tied with ropes and later handed over to police. pic.twitter.com/BcXCeciMti
— Hate Detector 🔍 (@HateDetectors) May 12, 2024
In January 2024, in response to a petition, the Supreme Court had directed state governments to inform the court about the actions taken regarding incidents of mob lynching and cow vigilante violence. The bench comprising Justices BR Gavai, Aravind Kumar, and Sandeep Mehta were hearing on a plea which was seeking directions to states to address incidents of lynching and mob violence against Muslims by cow vigilantes in the country.
The PIL also sought to guarantee a base amount allotted to victims of this kind of violence, keeping in mind the gravity of injury, loss of livelihood, and legal and medical expenses etc. In June 2023, after a Muslim man had been lynched to death by cow vigilantes who suspected him of transporting beef in Nasik, the speaker of the Maharashtra assembly, Rahul Narwekar, had also asked the police to maintain strict vigilance in sensitive areas.
There have been several such incidents of cow vigilantism targeting Muslims over the years in Maharashtra. The mode of operation seems to be similar in several of these cases where the victims are attacked while transporting meat or cattle on highways in the state. In one such case from 2021, it was seen that a local organisation, called the Akhil Bhartiya Krishi Gauseva Sangh, would receive information of such a truck and there onwards would go ahead to it. One name that has been reportedly common in several instance of vigilante violence is Shiv Shankar Swami. Swami, a government appointed “honorary animal welfare officer”, as per Al Jazeera, has reportedly told such vigilantes the phrase “kill the landyas.” He is termed as a ‘Gauraksha activist’ and has interestingly been under police protection since 2015. According to Reuters, there is a huge network of cow vigilantes across India. The report quotes a government official even saying, on the condition of anonymity, that even politicians are afraid of these vigilante network.
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Another man assaulted by cow vigilantes in Karnataka