The Punjab Police has arrested the chief of the state’s Gau Raksha Dal, a cow protection group, on charges of assault, wrongful restraint, sodomy, extortion, and looting.
Satish Kumar was arrested by the Patiala district police in Uttar Pradesh’s Vrindavan town following a raid, the official added. An FIR was lodged against him few weeks ago based on a video which surfaced on social media showing members of the Gau Raksha Dal brutally thrashing people.
Kumar was on the run following several complaints that he and others had taken law into their hands in the name of cow vigilantism..
Proud to be The Biggest Goon: Kumar
Kumar, with his associates, in not one for stealthiness and secrecy. In several interviews and videos uploaded on social media, this Gau Raksha Dal has come forward openly as an extra-constitutional force of cow vigiliantes willing and eager to resort to violence to protect the holy cow.
I don’t mind if someone calls me a goon for saving the cow. If someone who saves the cow is labelled a goon, I’ll be proud to become the country’s biggest goon.Satish Kumar, Chief of Punjab’s Gau Raksha Dal, speaking to India Today
After PM Modi’s recent comment against self-proclaimed cow vigilantes, Kumar rubbished it openly, terming it as a move to woo voting Muslims and non-Hindus in Uttar Pradesh and Punjab.
Let me tell you, I won’t back out. I will keep my tirade against cow slaughtering. I am not afraid of arrest. I will court arrest. It is my wish that if I die before there is a blanket ban on killing of cows in India, my ashes be kept at a ‘gaushala’ and immersed in the Ganga only after every cow is safe in India.Satish Kumar, speaking to Hindustan Times
Social Media Displays of Terror
Regular videos uploaded on social media show the excesses committed by Kumar and his associates. The videos show the cow vigilantes carrying firearms and swords, harassing and beating up people in the name of protecting cows, sometimes even urinating on them.
Supporters can be found on Twitter or amongst the 19,000 followers of the Gau Raksha Dal- Punjab page on Facebook.
(With inputs from IANS)
Also Read: How to Become a Gau Rakshak Celebrity
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)