Hindu gau rakshak ambushed and shot by Muslim men over his activism against cow smuggling in Hyderabad, Telangana

Case ID : 8da1772 | Location : Hyderabad, Telangana, India | Date of Incident : Tue, 21 October, 2025

Case ID : 8da1772

Hyderabad, Telangana, India

21 October, 2025

Hindu gau rakshak ambushed and shot by Muslim men over his activism against cow smuggling in Hyderabad, Telangana

Attack not resulting in death

Attacked for opposing radicals or trying to save victim

Case Summary

Prashanth Kumar, known as Sonu, a 29-year-old Hindu cow vigilante from Hyderabad, was shot while trying to stop illegal cow smuggling. On the evening of 22nd October 2025, around 5 pm near Yamnampet in Ghatkesar, Sonu responded to a call from an acquaintance named Srinivas, who promised information about suspicious cattle transportation. Instead of help, he walked into an ambush set by Muslim men Ibrahim, Haneef Qureshi, and Hassan bin Mosin—members of a smuggling ring he had previously disrupted, costing them an estimated Rs 1 crore in losses. The confrontation turned violent when the group accused Sonu of interfering in their operations. During the argument, Ibrahim pulled a gun from his car and shot Sonu in the chest before fleeing. Sonu collapsed, critically injured and bleeding. Local police arrived after a tip-off, rushed him first to Sarikara Hospital in Medipally for stabilisation, then transferred him to Yashoda Hospital in Secunderabad for advanced care. Surgeons performed emergency surgery that night, successfully removing the bullet from his chest, but Sonu remained in critical condition, fighting for recovery in the ICU. In the hours that followed, Sonu’s mother, Bidla Radhika from the Valmiki community, recounted his call to her from the scene: “He said he was in Ghatkesar and had been shot.” She demanded swift justice from the government. By early October 23, police arrested three of the four suspects—Srinivas, Haneef Qureshi, and Hassan bin Mosin—at Shamshabad, while intensifying efforts to capture the main shooter, Ibrahim. A case was registered under relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, with evidence including the seized firearm. A Deputy Superintendent of Police oversaw the investigation, probing the smuggling mafia’s broader links and emerging political allegations. The shooting drew sharp reactions from BJP leaders, who rallied around Sonu as a symbol of grassroots activism. Madhavi Latha displayed photos of the accused, challenged the state government to ensure justice, and urged it to probe the accused’s ties to AIMIM. Union Minister G Kishan Reddy condemned the attack, criticised police inaction, and demanded an end to mafia activities in Hyderabad. State BJP President N Ramchander Rao and MP Eatala Rajendar framed it as part of a pattern targeting vigilantes, attributing it to political protection under the Congress government.

Why it is Hate Crime ?

This case has been added to the tracker under the primary category- Attack not resulting in death. The subcategory selected is- Attacked for opposing radicals or trying to save victim. In several cases, Hindus are attacked for opposing religiously motivated crimes being committed against a fellow Hindu or simply for voicing an opinion opposing radical elements, who either have in the past or continue to persecute Hindus. In such cases, the initial attack against the victim, against which the Hindu was trying to defend the victim, would also need to be classified as a religiously motivated hate crime. Since the initial crime itself was religiously motivated and the subsequent crime of attempting to save the victim or speaking against the radical elements ends up inviting a violent attack, it would also be classified as a religiously motivated hate crime under this category. This incident was an unequivocal case of a religiously motivated hate crime against a Hindu activist who was violently attacked for fulfilling his sacred duty of protecting cows — a cornerstone of the Hindu faith. In Hinduism, the cow is revered as Gau Mata, a living emblem of motherhood, compassion, and non-violence. It embodies purity and the sanctity of life, and its protection is considered an act of profound religious devotion and service to dharma (righteous duty). To harm a person for defending this sacred being is not merely an act of physical aggression; it is a direct assault on the freedom to practise the Hindu faith and live by its teachings. The attack on this gau rakshak (cow protector), therefore, represented deliberate religious hostility against the values and beliefs he stood for. The victim, a long-standing cow protection activist, was targeted by Muslim perpetrators who were themselves engaged in illegal cow smuggling. His tireless fight against the illicit meat trade made him a marked enemy in their eyes. For years, he had worked to prevent the slaughter and trafficking of cows, central to his religious conviction and moral responsibility. He was ambushed and shot for precisely this reason — because he sought to stop acts that strike at the very heart of Hindu beliefs. This was not an act of violence against a business disrupter; it was a calculated, hate-filled attack rooted in animosity towards a Hindu living by his faith. The attempted murder, carried out by individuals steeped in the illegal trade, underlined the fact that the violence was both ideological and religious in nature. The attack was also part of a wider, alarming pattern of anti-Hindu violence targeting gau rakshaks. The Hinduphobia Tracker has recorded multiple such cases. For example, on 6th June 2025 in Mandideep, Madhya Pradesh, a Dalit Hindu gau rakshak named Ajay Malviya was brutally beaten by a Muslim mob numbering over 500 people after he and other Hindu activists intercepted Muslim cow smugglers engaged in illegal cattle transport. Another such case occurred on 21st January 2025 in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, where Hindu gau rakshak Manoj Baria was attacked by five Muslim men, identified as Hussain, Waseem, and Mubeen, near Rupali Cinema in the Karanj police station area. Manoj, accompanied by a friend, was assaulted with sharp weapons and sticks by masked assailants intent on silencing his cow protection activism. Given the repeated threats, explicit religious motive, and targeted violence against a Hindu practising his faith, this case fulfils all the criteria of a religiously motivated hate crime. In line with previous documented incidents of violence against gau rakshaks, it is now officially entered into the hate crime database of the Hinduphobia Tracker as a clear example of anti-Hindu violence driven by deep-seated religious animosity.