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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VHP slams Karnataka minister Priyank Kharge for 'money laundering' comment on RSS
Nagpur (PTI): The Vishva Hindu Parishad on Monday slammed Karnataka Congress minister Priyank Kharge for linking the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh to money laundering and asserted such statements were part of a strategy to insult patriotic organisations and defame patriots.
Kharge, while speaking at an event in Bengaluru on Sunday, cited the RSS' "network of more than 2,500 organisations, they are from America, England" to allege "these people are into money laundering".
Addressing a press conference here, VHP national organisational secretary Milind Parande said such statements will reduce the acceptance in society of those making them.
"They are trying to increase their credibility and trying to indulge in appeasement (with such remarks), both of which will not succeed. There are many forces and persons in India who have a problem with the awakening of Hindutva. They are coming up with such nonsense. Using such words and insulting patriotic organisations shows their intellectual bankruptcy," he said.
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"It will reduce their acceptance in society. What he (Kharge) said is absolutely false and even they know it. But they do it as a strategy to defame patriots. The people of Karnataka must think whether such people should be brought back to power. Hence, the VHP always asserts those who believe in the interests of Hindus must be in power at the Centre and in the states," Parande added.
Asked about the BNP winning polls in Bangladesh and whether it will improve the conditions of the Hindus there, Parande said it is expected that the community is protected irrespective of who is in power. So far, people there have been incapable of protecting Hindus, he said in reference to attacks on the community since the Sheikh Hasina government fell following an uprising in August 2024.
Asserting that most of the violence has been sponsored by political parties, Parande said, "The Hindu community is in a very dangerous situation in Bangladesh."
He also refused to comment on the face-off between the Uttar Pradesh government and Swami Avimukteshwaranand during Magh Mela festivities in Prayagraj. A controversy erupted on Mauni Amavasya morning at the Sangam Nose when police, citing heavy crowd pressure, allegedly stopped the seer from proceeding to the Sangam in a palanquin along with a large number of supporters.
The VHP as a practice does not give a statement on disputes between saints as it would not be appropriate, Parande said.
Without taking the name of Maharashtra Congress chief Harshwardhan Sapkal, the VHP leader said it was surprising anyone from the state can make such a remark about Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj. The Congress leader has courted controversy by equating 18th Mysuru ruler Tipu Sultan with the founder of the Maratha Empire.
On some persons sprinkling cow urine to purify a temple in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar following the visit of Muslim Shiv Sena MLA Abdul Sattar in Sillod on Mahashivratri on Sunday, Parande said places of worship must be visited by those who have faith.
Without genuine sentiment, it becomes a mere political stunt, he said.
"Religion should never be exploited for political gain, as that insults faith," Parande said while not commenting on the 'purification' episode linked to the incident.
