Hyderabad: Sonu Singh alias Prashanth, a self-proclaimed resident of Rampally and gau rakshak who was shot at, was attacked as he tried to extort Rs 5 lakhs from a cattle trader. Singh was shot at on the night of Wednesday, October 23, during a confrontation with the trader named Ibrahim. The incident took place in the Pocharam IT corridor area.
The Rachakonda police soon swung into action and arrested three people for the crime – Ibrahim Qureshi (main accused), Kuruva Srinivas (who arranged the meeting on Wednesday night) and Hassanbin Mosin, a cattle trader. Another accused named Mohammed Haneef is currently absconding.
According to the Rachakonda police, Sonu Singh had caused losses to the extent of Rs 1 crore to Ibrahim through his activity of stopping vehicles of cattle traders. Sonu, or Prashanth, had eventually demanded Rs 5 lakh as extortion to cease taking action against Ibrahim. It may be noted that gau rakshaks are self-styled vigilantes who in the name of protecting cattle often harass and extort traders, majorly who are Muslim.
The matter has now taken a political turn with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) making the most of it by claiming that Ibrahim is affiliated to the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM). The party on Thursday also said that it will protest against the attack in front of the Telangana director general of police’s office at Lakdikapul in Hyderabad.
It may also be noted that gau rakshaks in the state, especially in and around Hyderabad, get more active during and around the time of Bakri Eid when they often stop vehicles carrying cattle. Often times traders lose their animals for good with no respite as their animals are sent to shelters from where they seldom get them back.
Many traders in the past have also accused gau rakshaks of colluding with cow shelters for to allegedly sell animals illegally.
