Karnataka   

Buffalo dispute ends up in court

‘Kidnap victim’: The buffalo that was brought to the Haveri court on Thursday.

HAVERI: A buffalo was brought to the court in Haveri on Thursday for “hearing” in an interesting legal battle between two villages on the question of ownership.

According to Tippanna Ramanna Mailannavar, a member of the Kanavalli Gram Panchayat, a buffalo was donated to the “gram devata” of Kanavalli village in Haveri district by Jagadish Kattebennur in 2005. However, the buffalo was allegedly “abducted” in a tractor on November 18 this year by some people from Motebennur village led by Bhojaraj Rudrappa Ballary, Guddappa Kariyappa Alur and Nagappa Honnammanavar and four others for the purpose of sacrificing it to the “gram devata” of the village, Dyamavva, during a jatra to be held from December 28 to January 5. But according to Bhojaraj Ballary, the buffalo belonged to the Motebennur “gram devata” and that they had not “kidnapped” it. The contention of Basavaraj Kalasur, a member of the Gram Devata Temple Trust Committee of Kanavalli, was that the buffalo was required for the Jatra mahotsava scheduled to begin in the first week of January in the village. With the villagers of Motebennur and Kanavalli failing to arrive at a compromise, Tippanna Mailannavar lodged a complaint with the Guttal police, which was later brought to the notice of senior police officials. However, when his efforts failed, Tippanna Mailannavar took the matter to the Haveri court. Based on his petition, the court appointed S.M. Katagi as Court Commissioner to bring the buffalo and the vehicle used to “kidnap” it. P.V. Naduvinamath, advocate for the complainant, went to Motebennur with the Court Commissioner and brought the buffalo to the court in the presence of the Byadgi Police Inspector on Thursday. After hearing the case, Additional Civil Court Judge Padmaprasad permitted the complainant to take possession of the buffalo until further orders.

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