BENGALURU: Right-wing activist Punith Kerehalli, accused of lynching Idrees Pasha (39), driver of a cattle transport vehicle, in Sathanur police station limits near Bengaluru early Saturday morning, was arrested on Wednesday along with his four associates at Banswara in Rajasthan.
The police tracked him on Tuesday when Kerehalli posted a video on social media, accusing two former chief ministers of being in collusion with “cow” killers.
Video led to arrest of accused in a few hours
This video is said to have resulted in the police identifying his location, which subsequently led to the five being arrested within a few hours of posting the video. The Ramanagara police were helped by the Rajasthan and Gujarat police. The accused, who will be produced before a court in Rajasthan, will be brought to Karnataka after obtaining a transit warrant.
The other accused have been identified as Gopi, a resident of Gadagaihanadoddi of Ramanagara taluk, Pawan Kumar of Nonaburu in Thirthahalli, Pilling Ambigar, a resident of Basavanagudi, and Suresh Kumar of Raichur.
Of them, Pawan Kumar is said to be an electronic media reporter. “The accused, after the incident (on Saturday morning), had taken the Belagavi route to escape first to Gujarat, and from there to Rajasthan,” BR Ravikanthe Gowda, IGP, Central Range, told TNIE. Four teams of Ramanagara police were formed to nab them. They were arrested while trying to escape in a car, which was intercepted at Banswara.
Mandya’s Pasha, along with Irfan (37) and Syed Zaheer (40), was transporting around 15 cattle (buffaloes and cows) in a vehicle, which was allegedly waylaid by Kerehalli and his associates, who were in a car near Santemala Circle around 12.30 am on Saturday. Pasha and Irfan escaped, while Zaheer was caught and allegedly assaulted. Kerehalli is said to have demanded Rs 2 lakh and threatened to kill him if he didn’t pay. The police reached the spot and took Kerehalli, his four associates, and Zaheer to the police station. However, some hours later, Pasha’s body, with marks of torture, was found a few hundred metres from Sathanur police station.
