Unwell cows keep Bareilly administration, cops on their toes
BAREILLY: When four cows of Shamsuddin Saifi, 52, a marginal farmer fell ill on Friday, his first reaction was to call the caretaker of the nearest animal shelter. Little did he know that his call would galvanise the entire district administration into action.
The cows had returned after grazing in a nearby forest at 6.30pm and were “foaming at the mouth”. Responding to Saifi’s call, the in-charge of the animal shelter called the district veterinary officer (DVO) and requested him to send veterinary doctors to Saifi’s village Chaubari, 12 km from the district headquarter. Apart from the DVO, the caretaker also informed the district magistrate, initiating a relay of several calls among senior district officials .
At 9pm, newly appointed DM Pinki Jowel called her subordinate assistant district magistrate (ADM) Alok Kumar and asked him to ensure availability of veterinary doctors and keep an eye on the situation in the village. “The knee-jerk response was to prevent any Alwar like incident in Bareilly,” said a senior district official.
Within half an hour, two veterinary doctors with assisting staff were rushed to Chaubari. They were followed by a police team headed by station house officer of Cantt police station who was asked to provide briefing on the security situation of the village.
Within an hour, the animal shed outside Shamsuddin’s house turned into a makeshift hospital.The veterinary doctors were busy reviving the four cows whose condition was deteriorating. “The cows showed symptoms of poisoning as their stomachs were dilated,” said Dr Ajay Kumar, a veterinary doctor.
The medical team was guarded by over 30 police personnel. “Miscreants might have used it as an opportunity to disturb peace in the area so we remained on the alert,” said SHO Kamal Singh Yadav.
The vigil continued till 1 in the night. Three of the four cows could not be saved but the doctors revived the fourth. The carcasses were shifted to Bareilly for postmortem examination.
On Saturday, police registered an FIR on the complaint of Shamsuddin.