Cattle theft racket: Thieves caught red-handed, finally

Puttur, Aug 22: A group of cattle thieves, allegedly belonging to a Hindutva outfit, were caught red-handed while trafficking stolen cattle at Savanoor in Puttur on Wednesday night. 

Three of the miscreants have been identified as Karunakara, Dinesh and Eshwara, all local residents and activists of a right-wing outfit.

According to local sources, the thieves were caught at around 7:30 p.m., when they were transporting the stolen cattle on a pick-up vehicle.

Unknown thieves had stolen cows belonging to one Usman in Savanoor a couple of days ago.

One of the relatives of Usman, who noticed the same cows on board the pick-up, waylaid the vehicle with the help of others. It was confirmed that the cows being transported were belonged to Usman.

A tense atmosphere prevailed in the area following the incident as hundreds of people surrounded the pick-up vehicle. Police rushed to the spot immediately to bring situation under control.

It is learnt that the thieves had been transporting the stolen cows from 'Go Prathishtana Kendra' run by Hindutva outfits in Savanoor.

It is suspected that the same thieves had kept those cows in Go Prathishtana Kendra till Wednesday evening after stealing them.

Interestingly, the cattle thieves were caught amidst the ongoing agitation by Vishwa Hidnu Parishad, Bajrang Dal, Hindu Janajagruthi Samithi and other right-wing activists across twin districts of Dakshina Kannada and Udupi against the increasing cattle theft in the region. On Thursday also a protest is scheduled to be held in Puttur by Hindutuva outfits against cattle theft racket.

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