Bengaluru: Cow vigilante Puneeth Kerehalli enters Muslim homes on Eid, activists demand action
Bengaluru: Lawyers, researchers, and social activists have urged the Bengaluru police to take preventive action against murder-accused cow vigilante Puneeth Kerehalli, following the circulation of videos showing him unlawfully entering Muslim households in the city during Eid-ul-Adha.
Kerehalli, affiliated with the Hindutva outfit Rashtra Rakshana Pade, uploaded videos on 4 and 6 June from areas with significant Muslim populations, including Tannery Road, Ahmednagar, and Shivajinagar. In these videos, he is seen entering homes and claiming to be "rescuing" cows allegedly brought for slaughter. Eid-ul-Adha, observed from the evening of 6 June, sees animal sacrifice as a part of religious practice.
In one of the 30-minute videos, Kerehalli is seen entering a house and filming cattle and goats, stating that “this is happening in every Muslim household.” A man identified by him as a police officer appears briefly, asking him to leave, but Kerehalli continues filming and making political accusations. In another video, he and his associates argue with locals in Ahmednagar over cattle.
Civil society members including advocates BT Venkatesh and Clifton D’Rozario, Dr Sylvia Karpagam, and activists Syed Tousif Masood and Zia Nomani submitted a complaint to senior police officials, demanding Kerehalli’s preventive detention under the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS) or the Goondas Act. They highlighted the threat of communal unrest triggered by such acts of vigilantism.
The complaint noted that despite police presence in the videos, no immediate action was taken to restrain Kerehalli. The activists stressed that enforcing the Karnataka Prevention of Slaughter and Preservation of Cattle Act, 2020, is the responsibility of the police, not private individuals.
Kerehalli, who is the main accused in the March 2023 murder of cattle transporter Idrees Pasha in Ramanagara, continues to post such videos frequently. He has previously called for a boycott of Muslim vendors and opposed the sale of halal meat. Despite being a repeat offender, authorities have been slow to act, with officials reportedly declining to accept the latest complaint, citing the Bakrid holiday.
To ensure record of the complaint, copies were sent via email to the Commissioner of Police, top state police officials, Chief Secretary to the CM, Home Minister, and Bengaluru in-charge Minister DK Shivakumar.
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BJP MP Nishikant Dubey tweets alleged ITR, journalists raise privacy concerns
New Delhi: BJP MP Nishikant Dubey on Wednesday shared on social media an alleged income tax return (ITR) document, suggesting a sharp rise in the earnings of a journalist after leaving a salaried job. He left the identity of the journalist unnamed, asking followers to guess.
The Newslaundry citing the post reported that the purported document, which did not mention any name, showed taxable income rising from ₹18.9 lakh in 2019 to ₹1.2 crore in 2021-22, before falling to ₹62.7 lakh in 2022-23.
“Figure it out if you can: whose great journalist’s income tax return is this? Rs 18 lakh in salary, and the moment they quit the job, meaning as soon as they start roaming the streets, abusing Modi ji/BJP, it's in crores. This is the real truth,” Dubey wrote in his post.
Journalist Abhisar Sharma reacted sharply, accusing the MP of breaching confidentiality. Retweeting Dubey’s post, Sharma tagged Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and the Income Tax Department. “Confidential documents and details of taxpayers… are being tweeted in the public forum by none other than a Member of Parliament,” he wrote, adding that he would file an FIR. “He doesn’t have the guts to name the journalist. But this is what you do. Sheer cowardice,” Sharma said.
Journalist Ravish Kumar also expressed concern, questioning the implications of the disclosure. “Is the BJP now going to extract everyone's ITR and target them? Will someone's hard-earned income be criminalized in this manner?” he asked.
Legal experts point out that disclosure of an individual’s ITR without consent is punishable under Section 72 (breach of confidentiality and privacy) and Section 138 (disclosure of information respecting assessees) of the Information Technology Act, 2000.
