Chandigarh: The Punjab Police has arrested the chief of the state’s Gau Raksha Dal, a cow protection group, on charges of assault, wrongful restrain, sodomy, extortion and looting, a police official said on Sunday.

Satish Kaumar was arrested by the Patiala district police in Uttar Pradesh’s Vrindavan town following a raid, the official added. Kumar was on the run following several complaints that he and others had taken law into their hands in the name of cow vigilantism. He was later produced before the Rajpura court and was sent to police remand for a day.

Videos were uploaded on social media about the excesses committed by Kumar and his associates. The videos showed the cow vigilantes harassing and beating up people in the name of protecting cows.

The victims told the police that they were stopped by the cow vigilantes and harassed and assaulted. They alleged that they were robbed of money and other possessions and were held in illegal confinement.

A case under sections 382 (having made preparation for causing death), 384 (committing extortion), 341 (wrongfully restraining any person), along with sections 148 and 149, of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) was also registered, police said.