Kasaragod cattle transporter shot by Karnataka police after high-speed chase and knife attack

Kasaragod: A trucker from Kasaragod- transporting nine buffaloes, two cows, and one calf- was shot at by Karnataka Police after he allegedly rammed his truck into a police jeep and lunged at an officer with a knife on Wednesday morning.

The incident happened at Ishwaramangala village in Dakshina Kannada's Puttur taluk, close to the Kerala-Karnataka border.

Police identified the injured man as Abdulla K (40), a resident of Delampady panchayat, close to Ishwaramangala, in Kasaragod district. He sustained a bullet injury on his leg and was admitted to District Wenlock Hospital in Mangaluru, where doctors said he is out of danger.

According to Dakshina Kannada Superintendent of Police K Arun, a team from Puttur Rural Police Station had received a tip-off late Tuesday night about a suspicious truck heading towards Puttur. Acting on the information, officers set up a checkpoint along the route. When signalled to stop, the driver allegedly sped away, ramming the police vehicle.

A 10-kilometre chase followed before police managed to intercept the truck. When confronted, police alleged Abdulla brandished a knife and tried to attack the officers, forcing a sub-inspector to open fire, injuring him in the leg. Another man in the vehicle fled the spot, and police said efforts are on to trace him.

Police said the 12 animals were being transported without valid documentation. One animal reportedly died of strangulation, the SP said.

BJP leader Arun Kumar Puthila and his aides were also present at the site. Videos from the spot show Puthila cutting the lashing ropes of the truck to release the cattle. Dakshina Kannada SP K Arun said Puthila had noticed a dead animal inside the truck and sought police permission to free the others. "The police allowed him to cut the ropes to prevent more cattle from suffocating," the SP said, adding that Puthila used a knife borrowed from a nearby house to do so.

The officer noted that police occasionally seek assistance from locals in such situations, "for instance, while transferring patients, moving bodies, clearing vehicles from roads, or offloading cattle".

Police have registered a case against Abdulla for attempt to murder under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) for attacking police officers, and under the Karnataka Prevention of Cow Slaughter and Cattle Preservation Act, 2020.

Investigators said Abdulla was arrested in July this year in a similar cattle smuggling case under the Bellare Police Station limits in Sullia taluk. "He resumed his activities soon after being released from jail," SP Arun said.