Maharashtra: Cowshed president booked after cattle seized in police raid goes ‘missing’ gets bail

According to the FIR, registered at Solapur’s Tembhurni police station on May 2, Yashwant Surve, the president of Shrikrishna Gaushala Bairagwadi, was given the responsibility to safe-keep more than 15 bulls seized during a police raid.

In a curious case of cattle lost and found, the Bombay High Court last week granted anticipatory bail to a gaushala office-bearer against whom an FIR was filed in May for allegedly misplacing the animals.

According to the FIR, registered at Solapur’s Tembhurni police station on May 2, Yashwant Surve, the president of Shrikrishna Gaushala Bairagwadi, was given the responsibility to safe-keep more than 15 bulls seized during a police raid. The FIR claimed that in May, based on a tip-off, it was found that four bulls from the seized cattle were not present at the gaushala.

Subsequently, an FIR was filed against Surve and another accused on allegations including cheating, and criminal breach of trust of the Indian Penal Code. The FIR claimed that the cattle, which were to be presented before a judge presiding over a criminal trial against the men booked for translocating the animals for slaughter, were disposed of by Surve.

Surve had approached a local court in Barshi apprehending arrest by the police. The police opposed the plea stating that as the bulls entrusted to Surve were yet to be recovered and hence his custodial interrogation was necessary. In May, the court rejected Surve’s pre-arrest plea after which he approached the High Court.

In the plea before the HC, filed through lawyer Harekrishna Mishra, Surve claimed the FIR was based merely on an assumption that the cattle was disposed of and no description of the incident was given to substantiate the allegation. He submitted that the bulls were present at the gaushala.

The prosecution, led by additional public prosecutor Arfan Sait, said the four bulls were subsequently found to be in the gaushala.

“As noted… the said four bulls are very much in the custody of the applicant (Surve) and are being maintained in the said gaushala,” Justice A S Gadkari said in his order, granting anticipatory bail to Surve and stating his custodial interrogation was not necessary.