Hukkeri, June 30, 2025: Five members of the Sriram Sene ‘trying to stop illegal cattle transport’ were beaten black and blue by a group of Muslim youths after tying them to a coconut tree at Ingali village in Hukkeri taluk on Saturday.
A video of the incident has gone viral on social media on Sunday.
But the Muslim youths claimed that the Sriram Sene members were thrashed for ‘misbehaving with a woman’ and the incident was not related to cattle being transported.
On Friday, a group of Muslim youths were transporting cattle. Members of the Sriram Sene waylaid them and took the vehicle transporting the cows to the Hukkeri police station, saying that the cattle were being illegally transported.
The police then sent the cattle to a goshala at Belavi. On Saturday, the Muslim youths went to the goshala and told the authorities there that they had purchased the cattle at the fair for dairy farming purposes. Following this, the goshala authorities handed over the cattle to the Muslim youths.
The Sriram Sene members, who got wind of the development, started chasing the vehicle transporting the cows.
A war of words ensued between the two groups. One Shivaraj Babasaheb Naika said it was confirmed that the cows were purchased for dairy farming and that he had no objection to it.
Following this, the Muslim youths tied the Sriram Sene workers to a tree and thrashed them with wooden logs.
‘Victims pleaded’
They did not stop even when the victims pleaded with the attackers. Some bystanders gave water to the Sriram Sene members who were panting for breath.
Some women standing in the balconies of their homes shot the incident on their mobile phones and uploaded the video on social media platforms.
District Superintendent of Police Dr Bheemashankar Guled said that the police had registered a suo motu case based on the video.
“There is no evidence to show that the thrashing took place for trying to rescue cattle. Those who were beaten up have not filed a complaint too. Some youths said that the Sriram Sene members misbehaved with a woman. But no complaint has been filed in that connection also,” he said.