Tension in Reasi after cow vigilantes attack, injure shepherd; FIR registered

Srinagar: Cow vigilantes attacked and injured a 48-year-old shepherd at remote Garri Gabbar village in the Reasi district of Jammu on Saturday.

Mohammad Asgar suffered serious wounds and was shifted to hospital for treatment. A few days ago cows of another community had allegedly strayed into Asgar’s fields.

Seemingly fearing damage to the barn, Asgar’s son allegedly shooed away the animals from the field.  However, it angered the community members who rushed to the Asgar’s field. 

Shouting slogans, ‘Desh Ke Gadroon Ko… Goli Maroo sa*** Ko’, they thrashed Asgar in full public view on Saturday. Later cops intervened and saved Asgar from their clutches.

“Cows had entered the fields and Asgar’s son had driven them away.  Later they called up Asgar and he went to meet them. More than 60 people pounced on him with sticks and canes. His condition is very bad. You cannot imagine what he has gone through,” said Mushtaq Ahmad, brother of Asgar.

Asgar’s cousin Javid Ahmad was also beaten by the mob.

Sensing trouble, police have lodged two FIRs. In one FIR, police have booked Asgar’s son for allegedly hurting the sentiments of a community by injuring a cow with a sharp-edged weapon. In another FIR, police have booked people who attacked Asgar.

“It was after I persisted and talked to higher-ups they lodged an FIR against the people who attacked Asgar,” said Abass Malik, a local tribal activist.

Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP), Reasi, Rashmi Wazir told The Kashmir Monitor that some community members lodged a complaint in the police station after a cow was hit with a sharp-edged weapon.

“We registered a case. It was not as if a stone was thrown. It was a cut mark.  She was found in a condition where somebody had deliberately caused her injury with a sharp-edged weapon. Later some of the people took the law into their hands and beat up the father of the accused. It is a far off area. Police rushed to the spot and brought situation under control. A case was registered,” she said.

Wazir said last year too, a similar case had happened but respectable of the society had sat down together and solved the matter amicably to maintain peace.

The SSP said two separate FIRs have been registered and the investigation is in full swing. “The accused in the cow case is absconding. Another case is against the persons who took the law into their hands and beat up the man,” she said.