The Kaup police in Udupi raided what they said was an illegal abattoir on the premises of a house in Mooluru village on Friday and seized a calf and 10 kg beef. While members of the household accused police of high-handedness and falsely accusing them, the latter said that family members had assaulted and obstructed their team.
The Udupi police said in a release that a team led by Kaup Police Sub-Inspector C. Raghavendra raided the shed on the premises of the house of Abbu Mohammed, as he and his family member Ismail were preparing to slaughter a calf. Ismail is an accused in cattle theft cases reported earlier. When the police raided, both of them escaped.
The release said that later the police seized the calf, 10 kg of beef, a four wheeler, and a weighing machine. Women family members abused the police team and assaulted Mr. Raghavendra and others. One B.C. Bava directed the family members to close the entrance and confine the police, the release added.
Accusing Mohammed and Ismail of stealing cattle and running an illegal abattoir, the Kaup police registered a case for offences under Section 379 of Indian Penal Code and Sections 4,5,7 and 12 of the Karnataka Prevention of Slaughter and Preservation of Cattle Act. Family members have also been booked.
However, Mohammed accused police of high-handedness and claimed that the beef seized by police had been brought on Thursday for a family event. Talking to reporters, Mohammed alleged that police raided his house when he and other male members were away. He accused the police of assaulting his wife, daughter-in-law, and a few other women members and seizing the beef in the refrigerator.
Denying allegations of indulging in cow slaughter, Mohammed said the calf is among the head of cattle he has been rearing for over several years and he has been selling milk to people in the locality. “I and my family members are being falsely accused of cow slaughter,” he said, adding that police had been repeatedly raiding his house and had seized four of his vehicles earlier.
He said that some of the family members had been falsely booked recently charging them of cattle theft when the members had gone to fetch one of the cattle which had run away.
Udupi Superintendent of Police N. Vishnuvardhan told The Hindu that none of the raiding team misbehaved with family members of Mohammed. “The whole raid has been videographed,” he said.
