Call for police action against cow vigilante groups during Eid in Bengaluru

A group of concerned advocates, researchers, and social activists have alleged rising cow vigilantism in Bengaluru during Eid celebrations, and called for immediate intervention by taking such vigilantes into preventive detention.

In a statement issued on Saturday, advocate B.T. Venkatesh, along with activists Vinay Sreenivasa, Zia Nomani and Sylvia Karpagam, flagged instances of cow vigilantism over the last few days by Hindutva activist Puneeth Kerehalli, who is notorious for such raids.

Over the last three days in the run up to Eid, Puneeth Kerehalli has conducted at least three ‘raids’ in which he trespassed into private properties and took away cattle in the garb of ‘rescuing’ them in Tannery Road, Ahmednagar, and Shivajinagar. He has broadcast these acts live on his Facebook page. He was detained by R.R. Nagar police over one such incident, but was later released, sources said.

Notably, this is not the first time Puneeth Kerehalli has carried out such acts. He was arrested for murder in 2023 when a cattle transporter was killed during one such acts of vigilantism by him.

The complaint, submitted to the Bengaluru City police, calls for the preventive detention of such individuals under relevant provisions of the CrPC or the Goonda Act. The group claims that these activities are being carried out under the guise of animal rights enforcement, but amount to criminal trespass and communal provocation.

No response from city police

The activists lamented the lack of any urgency or response from Bengaluru City police even after they flagged these incidents.

“Despite the urgency, physical copies of the complaint submitted to the offices of DCP West, DCP East, and DCP North were not acknowledged or accepted, citing Bakrid holiday and non-availability of officials for receiving tapal (official correspondence). This lack of acknowledgement during a time of high communal sensitivity is deeply concerning,” the statement read.

The activists stated that the complaint has also been emailed to senior police and government officials, including the Bengaluru Police Commissioner, ADGP (Law & Order), and the Home Minister, among others.

“Even as the Bengaluru City police are yet to act, Mangaluru City police have registered a suo motu case against Puneeth Kerehalli for communally inflammatory language used on his Facebook live,” pointed out activist Zia Nomani. The FIR in the case, says Puneeth Kerehalli referred to some ‘muslim areas’ in Bengaluru as ‘Pakistan’.

Published - June 07, 2025 10:18 pm IST