Attack on Cattle Traders: Alleged ‘People For Animals’ Member Held

Shashank Sharma was arrested for allegedly beating up three men in Delhi’s Kalkaji on Saturday night.

Buffalo seller Ashu was beaten up by a mob on Saturday night at Kalkaji in New Delhi. (Photo: Meghnad Bose/The Quint)

A Delhi resident who claims to be a member of the NGO ‘People For Animals’ was arrested on Monday in connection with the assault on two cattle traders and their driver near the Kalkaji Temple in the capital on Saturday night.

Shashank Sharma was allegedly a part of the mob that attacked the three men who were transporting 14 buffaloes in a truck.

He is the first alleged attacker to be arrested in the case and has been booked for voluntarily causing hurt, wrongful restraint and acts done by several in furtherance of common intention.

The two cattle traders, Ashu and Kamil, and their driver Rizwan were arrested on Sunday and booked under the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act. They were released on bail a few few hours later.

The three men were travelling from Pataudi in Haryana and were headed to Ghazipur market to sell the cattle.

After sustaining injuries in the mob attack, they were rushed to AIIMS Trauma Centre for treatment.

The police dismissed the injuries sustained by the three men as being “extremely minor”. However, when The Quint met and spoke to the injured men while they were being transported from AIIMS to the Kalkaji Police Station early on Sunday, they said they had been severely beaten up by around 15 men. Ashu had a bleeding cut under his left eye.

A visibly injured Ashu told The Quint that around 15 men stopped their truck and assaulted them at Kalkaji, Delhi. (Photo: Meghnad Bose/The Quint)

Also Read: Delhi: Cattle Traders Thrashed by ‘Cow Vigilantes’, Later Arrested