Unidentified suspects shoot 7 water buffalos dead, steal bodies in Istanbul

ISTANBUL – Doğan News Agency

Unidentified suspects have shot seven water buffalos dead, chopped their heads off and stole their bodies in Istanbul’s Şile district. 

The owner of the water buffalos, Cengiz Akdeniz, started searching for his animals when they did not return after five days, saying that he released his animals to a meadow for grazing.

“I started looking for the water buffalos when they did not come back. I searched for my animals for five days. After a while, I learned that some of my animals were seen near the Kalemli village,” he said.

Akdeniz found some of his animals but noticed that seven of them were still missing. He continued to look for the other animals with the support of Kalemli villagers.

Following the five-day search, seven animals were found shot dead and beheaded in an area near Kalemli.

“I do not know how they did not show mercy to them. They killed all of them by shooting them in their heads. Three of them had newborn babies,” he said.

The suspects reportedly separated the bodies of the water buffalos from their heads and stole their meats before loading them on a lorry.   

Akdeniz said the babies whose mothers were killed were being looked after other water buffalos that managed to escape from the suspects.

“Those who did that cannot be humans. I was feeding them for milk. Three of them had babies. I guess they did not kill the babies because they thought they would not provide too much meat,” he said.

He said the remains of the killed water buffalos were eaten by scavengers in the forested land, adding that he wanted the criminals to be punished.

Fatih Yamak, a villager, said a similar incident occurred in the same village last year. 

“A year ago, a water buffalo was killed with a gun for its meat in our village last year. Probably, the same people did this. Since this incident, I did not leave my animals on their own,” he said.

Mustafa Yurtseven, another villager, demanded help from officials, saying people were killing animals to make money. 

Meanwhile, an operation was launched into the incident by the gendarmerie. Some materials used as evidence were taken for evaluation from the scene.