‘Gau rakshaks’ create mayhem at Bhubaneswar railway station

A group of self-proclaimed ‘gau rakshaks’ created mayhem at the Bhubaneswar railway station on Wednesday, attacking two persons who were legally transporting 20 milch cows. No arrests have been made so far.

The attack took place around 9.30 a.m. when a Noida-based dairy farm was transporting 20 milch cows from Salem in Tamil Nadu to Meghalaya in two parcel vans of the Kochuveli-Guwahati Express. The dairy employees had all the legal documents with them.

When the train arrived in Bhubaneshwar, more than 25 cow vigilantes barged into the station and caught hold of two persons belonging to dairy and beat them up.

The miscreants, who claimed to be members of the Bajrang Dal, even tied



up the two employees. It is alleged that nobody from the security establishments tried to detain the attackers even though they gave interviews to local television channels, bragging about their deed.

The train was detained for two hours and the two men were rescued by RPF personnel nearly an hour after the attack.

Soubhagya Kumar Swain, inspector-in-charge of GRP, Bhubaneswar, said: “There were only four to five security personnel and they could not control the mob.”

Later, the station superintendent lodged a complaint with GRP stating 25 unknown persons carried out the attack. “We have no idea of the attackers. We are examining CCTV footage to identify them,” said Mr. Swain.