The Bharat Raksha Manch has strongly protested the "illegal" detention and torture of animal welfare activist Tirtha Kumar Sahu, who was the victim of a murderous attack in the Rayagada Sub-District Jail on Thursday. Sahu is in hospital, seriously injured; yet a "false" case has been filed by him by the Rayagada Police.
Speaking to the media, Manch convenor Murali Manohar Sharma told about the gross injustice committed on a cow protection volunteer of Rayagada, Sahu, as a volunteer of the Gau Gyan Foundation, has been doing lawful cattle rescue and rehabilitation work for the past three years.
The 180 cases filed by him in the Orissa High Court in 2015 against the connivance of the civil and police administration in cattle-smuggling area are a testimony to his dedication to the cause of cow protection.
last July, Sahu was called by the President of India in response to the hundreds of letters he and his associates from Odisha had written against the civil and police administration's cruel neglect of the issue of cattle smuggling and slaughter.
In February-March this year, Sahu was in Delhi for a rally of Gau Bhaktas at the Ramilila Maidan. Along with four of his fellow volunteers, Sahu met 470 MPs and submitted a memorandum, appealing to them to uphold the cattle protection laws and have the cow declared as the Mother of the Nation.
Sharma said the Odisha police are notorious for their open backing to the cattle mafia, as a result of which nearly 2,50,000 cattle are illegally transported every month for slaughter to West Bengal, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh and Bangladesh.
According to Manch national secretary Anil Dhir, the Odisha police have a track record of being hostile to all cow protection volunteers.
Sahu was also tortured in the Jeypore jail this year.
Over the last fortnight, Sahu and his associates approached several police stations in Rayagada and Koraput, seeking help for rescue of thousands of cattle, but the police stubbornly refused to help.
Dhir said that on April 3, Sahu had a chance meeting with Purushottam Das from the office of the President of India at the Circuit House, Rayagada. Rayagada SP Subramani and Collector Jagannath Mohanty were also present there. Sahu's candid talk with Das about the police and civil neglect of the crime of cattle smuggling did not go down well with the officials.
The next day, Sahu went to the grievance cell at the Collector's office against the police, whose inaction had led to the smuggling/slaughter of thousands of cattle over the previous fortnight. Assistant Collector Ishaq Madina tore his petition and DSP Santanu Mohanty kicked Sahu in the chest. Evidence about some of this could possibly be gathered from the cameras in the Collector office premises, said Dhir.
Sahu was kept in police lockup for 27 hours and booked in a slew of cases under the IPC, including 307. On April 7, at8 am, Sahu was attacked by goons in the jail premises with iron rods, seriously injured and was hospitalised.
Ironically, Dhir said, the Collector responded to the queries from the Gau Gyan Foundation at Delhi after a full 24 hours. He informed by SMS:"I have inquired through CDMO and IIC. There are FIR/counter FIR. The duel is due to previous issues.
Tirth was treated in hospital and will return to jail. As he is in judicial custody, judicial officer will take care of him."
Even after this attack, a false case was filed against Sahu. Sending back Sahu to jail would only endanger his life further, Dhir added.