BENGALURU — Lawyers, researchers, and social activists have urged Bengaluru Police to take preventive action against murder-accused cow vigilante Puneeth Kerehalli, after videos surfaced showing him allegedly entering Muslim households without permission during Eid-Al-Azha celebrations on Saturday.
Kerehalli, who is affiliated with the Hindutva outfit Rashtra Rakshana Pade, uploaded videos on June 4 and 6 from areas with significant Muslim populations, including Tannery Road, Ahmednagar, and Shivajinagar. In the videos, he is seen entering homes and private residences, claiming to be “rescuing” cows allegedly brought for slaughter, Vartha Bharati reported.
Eid-ul-Azha, which was celebrated on 7 June in South Asia, traditionally includes animal sacrifice as part of religious practice.
In one of the 30-minute videos, Kerehalli is seen entering a house and filming cattle and goats, while claiming that “this is happening in every Muslim household.” A man identified by Kerehalli as a police officer briefly appears in the footage, asking him to leave the premises. However, Kerehalli continues filming and making politically charged accusations. In another video from Ahmednagar, he and his associates are seen engaging in heated arguments with local residents over the presence of cattle.
Civil society members, including advocates B.T. Venkatesh Clifton D’Rozario, Dr Sylvia Karpagam, and activists Syed Tousif Masood and Zia Nomani have submitted a formal complaint to senior police officials. In their representation, they called for the preventive detention of Puneeth Kerehalli under the provisions of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS) or the Goondas Act. The complainants warned that such acts of vigilantism pose a serious threat to communal harmony and could incite unrest.
The complaint noted that despite police presence in the videos, no immediate action was taken to restrain Kerehalli. The activists stressed that enforcing the Karnataka Prevention of Slaughter and Preservation of Cattle Act, 2020, is the responsibility of the police, not private individuals.
Kerehalli, who is the main accused in the March 2023 murder of cattle transporter Idrees Pasha in Ramanagara, continues to post such videos frequently. He has previously called for a boycott of Muslim vendors and opposed the sale of halal meat. Despite being a repeat offender, authorities have been slow to act, with officials reportedly declining to accept the latest complaint, citing the Bakrid holiday.
To ensure record of the complaint, copies were sent via email to the Commissioner of Police, top state police officials, Chief Secretary to the CM, Home Minister, and Bengaluru in-charge Minister DK Shivakumar.
