Jammu

A man and his four associates who were taking police-seized bovine animals through a hilly track were allegedly attacked by cow vigilantes in a remote area in Ramban district of Jammu and Kashmir, leaving several persons injured, officials said on Saturday.

Police have registered an FIR against 17 persons for the alleged attack on Tuesday and launched efforts to arrest them.

This was the second such reported attack by cow vigilantes in Ramban in the past five months. A man died trying to flee his alleged attackers in April.

Shakeel Ahmad, a resident of Maitra village of Ramban town, told PTI on phone that he was handed 23 bovine animals seized by the police at Kariya Post to take them to Ramban.

"On August 4, I was taking them on foot through a hilly track along with four workers when a large group of cow vigilantes, armed with sticks, encircled and attacked us at Bilawat village around 8 pm, accusing us of bovine smuggling,” he said.

Ahmed said they showed the cow vigilantes documents issued by the police and pleaded with them to speak to the concerned police officer to verify the details.

But the group refused to listen, he said.

Ahmed alleged that they snatched two mobile phones and assaulted them with sticks, resulting in injuries to him and his workers.

Gafoor (20) suffered serious injuries and is undergoing treatment at a hospital, while two others, Altaf and Ishtiyaq, tried to intervene but were also allegedly beaten up, he said.

Ahmad alleged that the attackers were led by Surjeet and his brother Tilak Raj and they were left unconscious after the assault while they did not know what happened to the animals.

“We were taken to the hospital by some locals. The next day, I went to Ramban police station and lodged a written complaint against the accused,” he said, demanding stern action against those responsible, justice for the victims and measures to restore people’s confidence in the system.

Officials said police registered an FIR under relevant sections of law including sections 126(2) (wrongful restraint), 115(2) (voluntarily causing simple physical hurt), 307 (theft with violence preparation), 352 (Intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of peace), 351(2) (criminal intimidation), 351(3) (aggravated criminal intimidation) and 191(2) (rioting) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).

The investigation of the case is underway and efforts are on to arrest the accused, the officials said.

Earlier, on April 12, Tanveer Ahmad Chopan, a youth from Mundkhal Pogal, lost his life after allegedly jumping into a stream while fleeing a group of cow vigilantes who had reportedly chased and assaulted him in the Ramsoo area as he was taking a milch cow and two calves from Jammu to his home.

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Chopan’s body was recovered from the stream nearly a month after the incident following an extensive search. Police subsequently arrested four persons in connection with the case.