BJP local leader killed by cow vigilantes in Karnataka

Udupi: A BJP local leader who was allegedly involved in transporting cattle illegally for slaughter, was killed by a group said to comprise members from saffron outfits near Hebri in Udupi Wednesday night.

Praveen Poojary (28), was president of the BJP’s area committee in Kokkarne, Udupi. He owned a small shop and a chicken farm and was unmarried.

On Wednesday around 7.30 pm, Praveen and his friend Akshay Devadiga (20) were carrying four calves in a goods vehicle when 20-30 people, allegedly from Hindu Jagarana Vedike, waylaid the tempo at Kajke near Hebri and attacked the duo with iron rods and wooden sticks. Praveen succumbed to his injuries at a hospital in Brahmavar.

Sources in the saffron outfit claimed that Praveen had earned notoriety as an illegal cattle transporter.  “He used his post in the BJP as a shield for his cattle business,” the sources in the saffron outfit said.

Superintendent of police K.T. Balakrishna said 18 people have been arrested for rioting and murder. In a similar incident, seven members of a Dalit family were allegedly beaten up by a group of gau rakshaks for skinning a dead cow in Una town of Gir Somnath district in state of Gujarat last month.