Politics

Killed For Owning Cattle: Meet The Victims Of Illegal Beef Industry

  • Earlier this week, cattle thieves killed a farmer in his house in Haryana’s Hisar district and looted his cattle. Within 10 kilometres, another farmer was killed by cattle thieves about a year ago.
  • The victim families say they got nothing from the government in compensation. Do these helpless victims of illegal beef mafia not matter to the state at all?

Swati Goel SharmaJul 26, 2019, 04:40 PM | Updated Aug 04, 2023, 03:09 PM IST
Kiranbala, wife of Inderpal (left) and Ramwati, wife of Naresh. (Photo: Swati Goel Sharma)

Kiranbala, wife of Inderpal (left) and Ramwati, wife of Naresh. (Photo: Swati Goel Sharma)


“Hamari do bhains thi aur ek katti thi. Jaan bhi gayi, maal bhi gaya. Hamara kuch nahi raha.”

(We had two buffaloes and a calf. We lost life as well as property. We are left with nothing)”


“His face was completely disfigured by the multiple stabs. It looks like a gandasi [axe] was used,” says Satbir Saini, a cousin of Naresh recalling the gruesome killing.

Surinder Saini (right) and Satbir Saini (in blue shirt). 

Naresh was a labourer in the farm owned by one Ashwini Jawa from village Barwala in Haryana’s Hisar district. Naresh too was a resident of Barwala. He would often sleep at the farm located on Daulatpur Road, hardly a kilometre away.


The family belongs to a backward caste.

Ramwati, wife of Naresh Saini.

A week on, the police have found no clue of the killers. Barwala police station registered a case against unknown men under IPC section 460 (house-trespass punishable where death or injury is caused).


Both said they did not suspect anyone for Naresh’s death.

Ranjit Singh (left) and Jagbir Singh.

Cattle thefts are common in the area, say residents. Loss of cattle is often a major setback that leaves the victim families in distress for a long time. Loss of an earning member, of course, sends them on a downward spiral of permanent deprivation.

It’s been more than a year since cattle thieves killed 32-year-old Inderpal Bishnoi in the neighbouring Sahu village. His family, comprising his mother, wife and two children, has fallen on hard times.


When this correspondent visited the family on Wednesday (24 July), they said they got nothing.

Kiranbala holds the photo of her late husband, Inderpal Bishnoi.

Inderpal’s 27-year-old wife Kiranbala said she never got the government job that was promised. An official did help her find work at a government office, but it is for cleaning the premises and pays little. She said she is a daily wage worker and her income just not enough to sustain her two kids.

The family’s responsibility has fallen on Inderpal’s elder brother Hetram, who said he barely manages any saving now. Inderpal’s mother Savitri complained that the DM promised them Rs 3 lakh as victim compensation, but they did not get a penny. The village sarpanch, Rajneesh Godhara, said he has written to the DM several times but to no avail.


“It was around 3 am. My daughter-in-law looked out and informed that some men were taking away cattle. My son picked up a lathi and rushed out. He did even know that the vehicle was carrying one of our buffaloes too. He caught hold of a thief. But soon, a shot was fired,” she said.

Savitri said she dashed out hearing the gunshot and heard someone moan. “I asked who was it. They said it’s your son who has been shot,” she said.

Savitri, mother of Inderpal.

The victim was taken to a private health centre and then to Hisar district hospital. Around 6 am, Inderpal died of the wounds.

The villagers brought the body, blocked the road outside the bus stand and declared that it wouldn’t be cremated until the officials showed up.


The family’s cattle shed located right across the house once had five buffaloes but is now empty. “We had to gradually sell them all. We can’t afford any more animals,” said Savitri.

The family’s cattle shed that is now empty.

She has not followed up on the case. All she knows is that there were “four-five Muslim men” and they were arrested.

An officer at Uklana police station shows the first information report (FIR) filed on 27 December 2017, and details of the case diary.


A look at the details show the police have made a strong case against them. The men were initially booked for 307 (attempt to murder), 34 (common intention), 380 (theft), 382 (theft after preparation made for causing death), 420 (cheating, as the thieves’ vehicles was stolen and did not have a number plate) and 25 (fraud). The police later added 302 (murder), 392 (robbery), 397, (dacoity, with attempt to cause death or grievous hurt), 458 (lurking house-trespass), 459 (grievous hurt caused while committing lurking house-trespass), 120 B (criminal conspiracy), among other charges.

The officer said the thieves were taking the animals for slaughter.

Uklana police station.

Cattle smuggling gangs are rampant in Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan. The thieves are known to do recce in the day and return in the night with pick-up vans, locally called chhota haathi. They target stray cattle as well as the cows and buffaloes tied outside houses and in cattle sheds. They come armed with pistols and axes, threaten the farmers if seen and, if needed, kill them.

These are cases where men lose their lives and, families their sole bread-earners for one major ‘sin’ — owning cattle.


The irony is that if farmers protest against this unbridled crime, it attracts, sometimes, even more trouble. Often, reactions by panic-stricken farmers against thieves get labelled as hate crime and enters spurious databases like IndiaSpend’s. This results in neglect of crime cases when perpetrators are suspected to be from minority community.

Sunil Kumar, 29, who lives opposite Inderpal and witnessed his death, said that Sahu village alone saw at least 15 cases of cattle thefts within two years prior to the murder. He said he is not aware of any case that got solved. “Police ask the owners for evidence of theft. It’s ridiculous,” he said.

Joginder Kumar (centre) and Sunil Kumar (right).

Villagers say that Inderpal’s death changed nothing either. “The police did make some rounds for a few nights, but eventually we had to take matter in our own hands,” said Lajpat Singh, another neighbour. He said a panchayat was called and it was decided that seven-eight men would stay awake all night and keep a vigil in the streets. This practice, they say, continued for about six months until there was a complete stop on the thefts.

“It wasn’t easy. So many of us had to sacrifice our sleep and risk our lives,” said Sunil.


It has also left them angry. The farmers complain of state’s indifference to their plight and talk bitterly of “pampering of cattle thieves”.

Outside the house of Naresh Saini on 24 July.

Satbir vaguely remembers how Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar gave financial assistance of Rs 5 lakh to the family of Rakbar Khan last year in July. The announcement was made within days of Khan’s death. Khan, a chargesheeted cattle smuggler who had been booked twice for the same crime, was beaten by villagers in Rajasthan’s Alwar district when caught smuggling cows in the night. Khan died later in police custody; several villagers, including the owner of the field through which the cows were being dragged, were arrested and charged for “lynching” of Khan.


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