Gujarat: Cow vigilante allegedly killed by cattle traffickers in Valsad; 10 arrested
Valsad: Police have arrested 10 people for allegedly killing a cow vigilante after he was crushed to death by a tempo illegally transporting cattle in Gujarat's Valsad district, officials said.
According to police, the accused persons were part of an inter-state network wherein cattle from villages in Valsad were purchased and transported illegally to neighbouring Maharashtra, specially in places like Bhiwandi, Ahmednagar and Nashik.
The incident took place on Dharampur-Valsad road early Friday morning when the victim, Hardik Kansara (29), a self-styled cow vigilante and local VHP volunteer, tried to stop the cattle-laden vehicle, the Valsad police said in a release issued on Saturday.
After receiving a tip-off that a tempo carrying cattle was on its way from Barsol village in Valsad's Dharampur taluka towards Bhiwandi in Maharashtra, Kansar along with two associates and a police team followed the vehicle.
The victim and his associates tried to stop the vehicle by blocking a road. In the process, the tempo ran over Kansara, who died on the spot, the police said.
The tempo driver fled leaving behind his vehicle, from which 11 animals were rescued, the police said.
An FIR was subsequently lodged at Dungri police station and 10 people, including the tempo owner, driver, and others involved in the illegal transportation of cattle, were arrested from different places.
They were booked under Section 304 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder) of the Indian Penal Code, and provisions of the Gujarat Essential Commodities and Cattle (Control) Act and the Motor Vehicles Act, the police said.
Out of the 10 accused, five people were arrested in the past also in cases of illegal transportation of cattle in Gujarat and Maharashtra, the release said.
The accused have been identified as Asgar Ansari, Javed Sheikh, Jamil Sheikh, Khalil Sheikh (all from Bhiwandi in Maharashtra), and Ansar Sheikh, Hasan Ali, Ali Murad Jamal, Dharmesh Ahir, Kamlesh Ahir, and Jayesh Ahir (from Valsad district), it said.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
No 'bacterial infection' found in bodies of 4 Mumbai family members who died after eating watermelon
Mumbai (PTI): The initial report submitted by the microbiology department of a Mumbai-based state-run hospital has said no "bacterial infection" was detected in the bodies of four family members, who died after consuming watermelon recently, officials said on Wednesday.
The Dokadia family, residents of Ghari Mohalla on Ismail Kurte Road, had hosted a get-together of relatives on the night of April 25. At around 1 am (on April 26), hours after the guests had left, Abdullah Dokadia (40), his wife Nasreen (35), and daughters Ayesha (16) and Zaineb (13) ate pieces of a watermelon.
They suffered severe bouts of vomiting and diarrhoea in the early hours of April 26 and were rushed to a local hospital before being referred to the government-run J J Hospital where all four died during treatment.
After the incident, Mumbai police, forensic experts and Food and Drug Administration (FDA) officials visited the house and had collected samples of every food item that constituted the family's last meal, including 'chicken pulav', watermelon, water, and other foodstuffs, and sent them to the Forensic Science Laboratory for analysis.
After the post-mortem of the deceased, their viscera was preserved for chemical analysis.
As the probe is underway, the microbiology department of the state-run J J Hospital has submitted its initial report to the police.
"As per the report, no bacterial infection has been detected so far in the bodies of the victims. No bacteria was found in their blood," the official said.
The exact cause of the death will be known once the forensic science lab submits its report, he said.
"The report will also clarify whether any food items consumed by the family members during the day contained anything poisonous," the official said.
