press trust of india
Raipur, August 18: A local BJP leader was arrested Friday after 27 cows died over the last three days at his government-aided gaushala in Durg district of Chhattisgarh.
The Chhattisgarh Rajya Gau Sewa Aayog, which lodged an FIR with the police Friday after its team visited the cow shelter run by Harish Verma, has alleged that lack of proper facilities at the cow shelter was responsible for the deaths.Inspector General of Police (Durg Range) Dipanshu Kabra said Verma was arrested based on the complaint.
Verma 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.
However, Verma, who holds the post of vice-president in Jamul municipality, has claimed that the cows died due to collapse of a boundary wall 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 under way,” he said.
Durg Additional Collector Sanjay Agrawal, too, did not specify the reasons why the cows had died but said an investigation has been initiated. “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 death of cows,” Agrawal said. He said blood samples extracted from the carcasses of the cows have been sent to laboratories and reports are awaited to ascertain the cause of death.
According to Verma, he had not been receiving the necessary grants from the Gau Sewa Ayog for the upkeep of the animals even after repeated requests. The main opposition Congress has alleged that nearly 300 cows had 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 investigation of the matter.
