17 people were detained in Karnataka after VHP and Bajrang Dal activists murdered a BJP worker Praveen Poojari because he was allegedly transporting a cow.

In the latest incident of violence in the country over a cow, 17 people were detained in Karnataka after VHP and Bajrang Dal activists allegedly murdered a BJP worker Praveen Poojari in Udupi because he was allegedly transporting a cow, according to news reports.

News18 also reported that two other people were seriously injured in the attack by the right wing activists.

This incident is the latest in a series of crimes by self-proclaimed gau rakshak or 'cow vigilantes' which have taken place in the country.

On 10 August, Bajrang Dal activists had allegedly thrashed four persons whom they suspected of being "cow thieves" near Jiroli village on the outskirts of Aligarh in Uttar Pradesh.

The incident occurred when gau rakshak led by Bajrang Dal district president Kedar Singh tried to intercept a matador carrying a buffalo, but the driver refused to stop, police had said.

The activists had raised an alarm and a road block was laid by other members of the group at a short distance ahead. Seeing the road block, the four persons who were in the matador jumped out and tried to escape, they had added.

However, they were nabbed and beaten up by the crowd which had gathered on the spot before being handed over to the police along with their vehicle.

The now infamous assault on four Dalit youths in Una by gau rakshaks led to an unprecedented Dalit rally in Gujarat, which served a month-long ultimatum to the state government. The ultimatum stated to either fulfill the community’s demands or face an intense rail blockade protest in the state.

The rally in Una on 15 August was attended by Jawaharlal Nehru University Students' Union (JNUSU) president Kanhaiya Kumar, documentary filmmaker Anand Patwardhan, Dalit activist Martin Mackwan and former IPS officer Rahul Sharma.

Not less than 20,000 Dalits cheered Jignesh Mevani, convener of the Dalit Atyachar Ladat Samiti (Una Dalit Committee to Fight Atrocity), who at a public gathering said that the BJP and Sangh Parivar should stop testing the patience of Dalits and agree to their 10-point demand, including grant of 5 acres of land to each Dalit family in the state.

With inputs from PTI