Raipur: A BJP leader was arrested on August 18 after 27 cows died at his government-aided cow shed in a central Indian state ruled by the party.
The arrest took place after the Chhattisgarh Rajya Gau Sewa Aayog (state commission to serve cows) filed a First Information Report with the police in the Durg district of Chhattisgarh.
A team from the commission visited the cow shelter run by Harish Verma and alleged that lack of proper facilities at the cow shelter were responsible for the deaths.
“Harish Verma, the cow shed owner, was arrested based on the complaint of the Chhattisgarh Rajya Gau Sewa Aayog,” said Inspector General of Police (Durg Range) Dipanshu Kabra.
Verma, who holds the post of vice-president in Jamul Municipality, has been booked under sections 4 and 6 of Chhattisgarh Agricultural Cattle Preservation Act 2004, under section 11 of Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act 1960 and section 409 (criminal breach of trust) of the IPC, the IG said.
He has claimed that the cows died due to collapse of a boundary wall on August 15.
“On August 15, several cows were injured in the Gaushala after the boundary wall collapsed due to heavy rains. Thereafter, 26 of them succumbed to injuries while treatment of some other cows is underway,” he explained.
Verma alleged that he did not receive the grant from the Gau Sewa Ayog even after repeated requests.
The main opposition Congress has alleged around 300 cows have died in Verma’s shelter home in the past three days. “According to local villagers, around 300 cows have died of starvation and lack proper care as they were not fed properly in the ‘gaushala’,” state Congress spokesperson RP Singh said and demanded a high-level probe into the matter.
Durg Additional Collector Sanjay Agrawal said: “In the last three days, 27 cows were reported to have died of unknown reasons in the gaushala of Rajpur. Around 500 bovines were housed in the government-aided shelter home. Soon after getting the news of the incident, a team of veterinary doctors was sent to the spot. The district administration has initiated an investigation to ascertain the cause behind deaths of the cows.”
He said the exact cause of the deaths was yet to be ascertained as the blood samples of the carcasses of the cows have been sent to laboratories and reports are awaited, reports ndtv.com.
Scores of cases of lynching have been reported from various parts of India in recent months when cow vigilantes attacked people trading cows.
Chhattisgarh is ruled by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) that has adopted cow protection as one of its major policies.