10 Bajrang Dal workers injured in clash over cattle trafficking in Odisha

The local villagers came armed with bamboo sticks and other weapons and attacked the Bajrang Dal workers

Updated on: Dec 28, 2023, 13:34:08 IST

By Debabrata Mohanty

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At least 10 members of the Bajrang Dal were injured after they clashed in Odisha’s Balasore district on Thursday morning with a group allegedly trafficking cattle to Bengal.

The Odisha CID in an affidavit in the Orissa high court has said that there has been progressive rise in cases of illegal transportation of cows coming under the category of cruelty to animals in the state.

Police officials said the Bajrang Dal workers from Salepur area of Cuttack followed at least three vans carrying cattle for around 200 km till they tried to stop the vans at Fuladi area on the outskirts of Balasore town on NH 60 on Thursday morning.

“As a fight ensued between the Bajrang Dal workers and the men carrying cattle, the latter sought help from local villagers,” said a police official of Balasore Sadar police station.

He said the local villagers came armed with bamboo sticks and other weapons and attacked the Bajrang Dal workers which injured at least 10 of them. Three of the Bajrang Dal workers have been seriously injured with fractures and gashes on their heads.

The two vehicles in which the Bajrang Dal workers were travelling were badly damaged. A case has been lodged with the Balasore Sadar police station in this regard.

In September, an angry mob torched a vehicle carrying cattle in Keonjhar district over suspicions that it was being used for smuggling of cattle amid a series of such incidents involving hundreds of cattle across the state. The same month, locals in Balasore district had set ablaze three cattle-laden vans along Kamarda-Baliapal road when they intercepted three vans carrying around 100 cattle to West Bengal in three vans.

Last year, Odisha CID in an affidavit had told the Orissa high court that there has been progressive rise in cases of illegal transportation of cows coming under the category of cruelty to animals over the past five years. The CID affidavit said that there had been a whopping 217% rise in cases of illegal transportation of cows since 2017.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Debabrata Mohanty
Debabrata Mohanty is a senior assistant editor of Hindustan Times who works as state correspondent from Odisha covering the state's politics, governance, public policy, natural disasters, environment and its society for close to three decades. With his long years of reporting from the state capital of Bhubaneswar, Mohanty has been known as one of the most experienced and credible journalists covering Odisha for the national English dailies. His reporting combines on-ground detail with deep institutional knowledge detailing the state's changing politics, governance issues, administrative reforms and the functioning of its public institutions. He has regularly reported on issues ranging from legislative developments and public policy implementation. Politics is his core areas of expertise as he closely tracks Odisha's political landscape, including the rise and transformation of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the Biju Janata Dal (BJD), the two principal political parties in Odisha. His long association with the state's political establishment enables him to write on contemporary developments in a larger political context. Mohanty takes a deep interest in writing human interest stories, environmental issues and documenting the impact of cyclones, floods, heatwaves, and other climate-related events in one of the most disaster-prone states. His coverage extends to public health, governance reforms and stories on accountability of government institutions. Before joining Hindustan Times, Mohanty worked with The Indian Express, Mail Today, and The Telegraph, where he covered at least six general elections and as many assembly elections. In 2007, he was selected for the prestigious Chevening Young Indian Print Journalist Programme at the University of Lincoln, United Kingdom, where he received advanced training in print journalism. In 2009 he won the Press Institute of India-International Committee of Red Cross award on conflict reporting for his on-ground reportage of 2008 Kandhamal riots.Read More

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