Newskarnataka-Bajpe
Bajpe : The spate of cattle thefts in Sooralpady near Gurupur Kaikamba has given sleepless nights to the residents of the village. Of the several theft cases, the theft of cattle from the house of Chandrashekhar of Sooralpady by some neighbouring men however made much news. It was alleged that 11 persons including Mohammad, Sharief, Isaac, Anwar, Nooruddin and Mohammad, all neighbours of Chandrashekhar were named accused in the case. Of them the Bajpe police could arrest only three including Mohammad, the prime accused, Nooruddin and Mohammad, but could not apprehend the rest eight.
Interestingly, when Chandrashekhar planned to lodge a complaint regarding cattle theft with a police,a person had reportedly requested him to lodge a complaint after 10 am. It is learnt this request aimed at seeing to it that by then Mohammad would have cleaned up his slaughter house and disposed the wastes.
Seven cattle stolen : It is learnt, as many as seven cattle have been stolen from houses in and around Sooralpady recently. However, a complaint was lodged only in connection with the theft in Chandrashekhar’s house. Locals say four cows which were left for grazing in the hills near Sooralpady had gone missing mysteriously and that there have been a total of 20 cattle thefts. The locals also have a strong doubt that all these cattle were butchered in the illegal slaughter house at Sooralpady before being smuggled.
Another suspicion is that the services of a youth hailing from near Sunkadakatte was utilized to butcher the stolen cow. He, it is learnt, was also paid for the work.
Terrified locals : Residents of Sooralpady are terrified following the rise in cattle theft cases. They, it is learnt, are even not bold enough to protest against cattle smuggling by intercepting the cattle smuggling vehicles. People are spending sleepless nights as most houses have cattle. They have now appealed to the Bajpe police to give suitable protection to their cattle.
