Dairy farmer gives cattle lifters a chase, but in vain

Praveen Kumar | NT

Bengaluru: A 39-year-old dairy farmer made a futile chase to rescue his three cows from a habitual cattle lifter at Sigehalli in Bengaluru North taluk. The victim, C Shiva Kumar, alias Rajanna, and his relative have traced the lorry used to transport the cattle.

Kumar had installed CCTVs outside his house as there were regular thefts in the vicinity. The incident happened last week opposite Kumar’s house between 3 am and 3.15 am. The three stolen cows are totally worth around Rs 1.96 lakh.

The suspect has been identified as Usman, a native of Magadi in Ramanagara. Usman was accompanied by one of his associates. The duo used a lorry to smuggle the cattle. He is alleged to be a habitual cow lifter and is suspected to have lifted over 50 cows on the Bengaluru outskirts.“The cows were tied outside the house. We were in deep sleep and heard dogs barking. When we woke up, I saw Usman in the lorry and was trying to drive away. I saw three of my cows in the lorry. I tried to stop the lorry, but they tried to run over on me. I did chase the vehicle, but could not save my cows. I wish my cows are still alive,” Kumar told NT.

Since Usman is infamous in the area, the complainant was able to identify him immediately. Kumar and his nephew went near the house of the accused and could trace the lorry, but the cows were missing.

“Just a week back, somebody lifted my two-wheeler which was parked outside. One of the three cows was carrying and would have delivered a calf in two weeks,” Kumar added.

When he checked the CCTV footage, he found that the accused had used wooden boards to push the cows inside the lorry.

“The accused is suspected to have stolen a few more cows near Nelamangala area and a complaint has been registered with the M.N. Halli police station in the Bengaluru rural district police station limits. The said cow lifter and his associate are on the run. We have managed to seize the lorry that was used to transport the stolen cows. We are checking whether the lorry is owned by the main accused or was stolen from somewhere else,” said a police officer.

The Magadi sub-division police have registered a case under The Karnataka Prevention of Slaughter and Preservation of Cattle Ordinance Act of 2020 and theft under section 379 of the Indian Penal Code has been registered against the accused.