However, Usman was released on bail after he was produced before a local court hours after the arrest.
On Wednesday night police had arrested seven alleged cattle thieves identified as Eshwar, Karunakara, Dinesha, Narayana, Sundara Poojary, Santosha and Shafi after the pick-up van in which they were transporting cattle were waylaid by the mob at around 7:30 p.m. at Savanoor.
Subsequently, all the seven alleged thieves were released on bail. Soon after the release, one of them lodged a counter complaint against Usman, who had lodged complaint against them for stealing cows.
According to local residents, at least six of the arrested cattle traffickers are Bajrang Dal activists. However, a Bajrand Dal leader has said that none of the arrested belonged to their organisation. “They might be the activists of Congress party but not Bajrang Dal,” he said.
It was confirmed that the cattle that were being transported on board pick-up vehicle, belonged to Usman, and the thieves had been transporting them to Kerala from a 'Go Pratishsthana Kendra' run by Hindutva outfits in Savanoor.
Cattle belonging to Usman were stolen by thieves a few days ago. It is believed that the thieves had kept stolen cattle at 'Go Pratishsthana Kendra' for two days.
The police said the group confessed to taking the cattle from the field, with the intention of “protecting” the cattle in a nearby goshala in Puttur.
“The seven men arrested are Usman's neighbours, who say they were fed up with Usman letting his cattle graze on their fields. So, after several warnings, they decided to take the cattle to the goshala to teach them a lesson… because of this, we have not invoked the Cow Slaughter Act against them, instead booking them only for cattle theft,” said Superintendent of Police Abhishek Goyal.
Responding to allegations that the arrested belonged to a Hindutva organisation, Bajrang Dal, which had called for a press conference in Puttur on Thursday, denied that the arrested men belonged to their group.
Also Read: Cattle theft racket: Thieves caught red-handed, finally
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