90 cows die in two more shelters run by BJP leader in Chhattisgarh
RANCHI: Ninety cow carcasses were found on Saturday in two more cow shelters run by Chhattisgarh BJP leader Harish Verma, who was arrested the day before for death of about 200 bovines in one of his cowsheds in the state’s Durg district.
The fresh reported deaths were also allegedly caused due to starvation and lack of proper care.
A team of veterinary doctors found 70 cow carcasses at Phoolchandra Goshala in Godmarra village and 20 at Mayuri Goshala in Rano.
The two villages are about 15km from Rajapur’s Shagun Goshala where 200 cow deaths were earlier reported.
About 50 carcasses in Godmarra were dumped near a brick kiln, located some 200m from the cow shelter, while 20 others were found on the campus of the shelter, Dr Hemant Kumar, the district’s veterinary department in-charge, told HT.
At Rano all carcasses were found inside the shelter.
The arrested BJP leader blamed the state government for the deaths, saying the Chhattisgarh Gaw Seva Ayog failed to release pending funds to provide fodder to ailing animals.
The Aayog registered cases against Verma, accusing him of siphoning off ₹1.65 crore given to three cowsheds run by him.
Verma is also vice-president of Jamul Nagar Nigam and has been running these cow shelters for several years.
A team of doctors on Saturday visited the cowsheds in two villages to ascertain the cause of deaths.
But angry villagers prevented them from carrying out the postmortem.
The villagers alleged that the district administration failed to respond when they informed it about the failing health of the cows due to lack of fodder and water.
“We had informed the administration about the condition of cows but it was in vain,” Motilal Manikpur, head of Rano village, said.
Meanwhile, the police have registered separate cases against Verma and supervisors of the three cow shelters.
“BJP leader Harish Verma is linked with all the three cow sehlters where deaths have been reported and an investigation is on to find exact cause of so many deaths,” said inspector-general of police, Durg, Deepanshu Kabra.