Belagavi: Tension gripped Ainapur town in Kagwad taluk late Monday night after local residents allegedly set fire to a lorry suspected of transporting three tonnes of cow meat. Police have arrested seven people, including those involved in transporting the meat and those accused of torching the vehicle.
According to officials, the lorry was carrying meat from Kudachi in Raibag taluk to Hyderabad. The load, concealed under slabs of ice, was intercepted in Ainapur by a group reportedly linked to Hindu organisations, who set the truck ablaze. By the time police arrived, the vehicle was reduced to ashes. The driver and cleaner were also assaulted and sustained injuries.
District Superintendent of Police (SP) Bheemashankar Guled confirmed the arrests. The alleged transporters, Vikas Ware and Sudhir Gasti of Sangli district (Maharashtra) and Saheblal Muthawale of Kudachi, were booked under the Karnataka Prevention of Slaughter and Preservation of Cattle Act, 2020, and the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960. A fourth suspect was detained in Kalaburagi and is being brought back, as reported by Deccan Herald.
Those accused of torching the lorry, Avesh Jiragale, Suhas Londe, Anil Savali, and Sadashiv Kurandavade of Ainapur were arrested after being identified in videos of the incident. An additional case under the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989, was registered, as the lorry driver reportedly belongs to the Dalit community.
SP Guled added that meat samples had been sent to a laboratory for confirmation. “The suspects had been purchasing the meat for about a week now,” he said.
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Lahore (PTI): Pakistan's Punjab Police on Friday registered a case against unidentified gunmen for opening fire on Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) co-founder Amir Hamza, who suffered bullet injuries in the attack in Lahore.
On Thursday, two unidentified gunmen riding on a bike opened fire on the vehicle of the private TV channel 24NewsHD TV, owned by Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi, on Peco Road in Lahore near the TV channel's office.
In the attack, Hamza suffered bullet injuries.
"The FIR has been registered against unidentified gunmen, but it is sealed forthwith," a senior police officer told PTI.
He said the intelligence agencies have taken over this case from the police, and they are currently investigating the matter.
The channel's religious programme host Justice (retd.) Nazir Ahmed Ghazi and Hamza were in the vehicle when it was attacked. Hamza was shifted to a hospital for treatment.
Punjab police on Friday said that "upon receiving information about the incident, the SSP Operations immediately reached the scene and a high alert was imposed in the area. SSP Operations Tauqeer Naeem also met the affected individuals. Thankfully, all present in the vehicle remained safe during the firing."
It further said senior police officers of the Township and Chung, along with a heavy police contingent, were present at the scene.
"Police collected evidence from the site and initiated an investigation. Efforts to arrest the suspects are underway using CCTV footage and geo-fencing techniques. Search and sweep operations are being conducted at various locations, with scrutiny of suspicious individuals ongoing," police said.
It added that those involved in the incident will be traced and arrested soon.
The police sources said that Hamza has been shifted to his residence in Jauhar Town, Lahore, where police and agency personnel met him.
The leadership of the Pakistan Markazi Muslim League (PMML), a political front of Mumbai attack mastermind Hafiz Saeed's banned Jamat-ud-Dawah (JuD), including Hafiz Saeed's son Hafiz Talha Saeed, also called on him.
TV host retired Justice Ghazi, who remained unhurt in the attack, remained a legal counsel for Hafiz Saeed, they said.
The PMML has strongly condemned the attack on Hamza and demanded that those involved in the incident be arrested immediately.
Hamza is regarded as LeT's second most important leader after its chief Hafiz Saeed, who has been in Lahore's Kot Lakhpat Jail since 2019 after getting convicted for several years in terror financing cases.
Hamza has been designated as a terrorist by the US. In the past, he served as the head of LeT's "special campaigns" department.
In 2018, Hamza formed a fundraising group for the LeT following a ban on the JuD and Falah-e-Insaniat Foundation by the Pakistani government.
