Lens on 90 cow deaths at a shelter in MP

BHOPAL/RAISEN:District authorities have launched a probe into the death of 90 cows at a private shelter in Raisen district.

Confirming the deaths, Dr P K Agrawal, additional director of the animal husbandry and veterinary department, Raisen, which is around 100km from Bhopal, said, “Ninety cows have died in the past 10 days at the Brijmohan Ramkali Gau Sarakshan Kendra located near Salamatpur in Raisen. A probe has been ordered by the district collector and the MP Cow Commission.”

Though post mortem was not carried out, it is suspected that the cows died due to injuries sustained during a hailstorm that hit the district a fortnight ago or due to infections caught due to the cold and damp condition at the shelter, Agrawal said.

One of the probe team members naib tehsildar Amber Panthi said the cow shelter is overcrowded. While it has a capacity to accommodate 700 cows, there were at least 1,400 bovines at the shelter.

The probe team so far has found that between August 2016 and February this year, 3,544 cows were brought to this shelter. Out of this, 2,948 have died.

“The sudden deaths of the cows raised suspicion among locals as the carcasses were left in the open. Some local farmers had earlier informed the local administration about the way the cows were ill-treated, but the administration didn’t take any action,” said Rajendra Singh, a resident of Raisen.

RK Rokde, director of the MP cow commission, said, “The matter is serious. I will wait for the probe report before making any comment.”