Yashodhar Bangera
Daijiworld Media Network – Mangalore (SP)
Mangalore, Jun 19: Unknown miscreants took away four milk yielding cows from a cattle shed in Kuppepadavu within the jurisdiction of Bajpe police station here on Wednesday June 18 morning. Protesting against the police apathy relating to this and other incidents of theft of cows, villagers held a protest on the road and burnt tyres on Wednesday. The protest was withdrawn after assistant commissioner of police (ACP), Ravikumar, interacted with the protesters.
Early morning on Wednesday, a gang of thieves was seen loading four cows belonging to a local advocate, Bhaskar Kattemar, onto a vehicle. A family member named Puneet Kumar, who woke to some strange sounds, saw what was happening. Before Kumar could act, the miscreants fled in the Tata Sumo vehicle used for this act, along with the stolen animals.
It is said that Puneet Kumar had immediately called up Moodbidri police over phone, and told them that a vehicle loaded with stolen cows was moving in their direction, and had asked them to intercept this vehicle. Although he called the police station repeatedly thereafter, it is said that the police personnel did not positively respond to this request. Angered by this, locals blocked the road and burnt tyres to register their protest, before they were pacified by the ACP.
In the presence of ACP, the locals complained about the inertia on the part of policemen attached to Bajpe and Moodbidri stations. When Ravikumar took them to task, the policemen tried to give lame excuses for their inaction. The ACP promised to nab the thieves of cows at the earliest. A case was registered in Bajpe police station in this respect.