Inquiry ordered after 2,100 cows go missing in MP

Since it is a sensitive matter, we don't want to take any chances. We will go to the root of this.

The Jabalpur district administration has instituted an inquiry to find whether hundreds of cows have gone missing from a charitable cow shelter in Madhya Pradesh.

The local municipal body’s stray animal catching squad sends stray cows to this shelter. But, when the counting was done recently, 2,100 were found to be missing. Rajendra Patel, a senior official in the fire brigade wing of Jabalpur Municipal Corporation, 4,592 cows were brought to the shelter between April 2016 and July this year.

“Of these, 1,298 cows were released after their owners paid a penalty. Now, the shelter has around 1,100 cows, leaving nearly 2,100 cows unaccounted for or missing,” Patel said.

Jabalpur district magistrate Mahesh Chandra Choudhary said following reports in the media that a large number of cows were missing or unaccounted for at this charitable cow shelter home, an inquiry has been instituted.

“Since this is a sensitive matter, we don't want to take any chances. We will go to the root of this issue,” the official said.

When contacted, Malay Jain, in-charge of the charitable cow shelter, said they organise camps every two months in which cows are given to farmers.

“We get so many cows and there are space constraints. We even told the divisional commissioner that we can’t accommodate more cows,” Jain said.

A week after right-wing activist Rahul Eswar released a controversial video purportedly showing Hadiya Jahan (Akhila Ashokan) arguing with her mother on choice of her faith, her family has filed a complaint against him. Hadiya’s marriage with a Muslim man was annulled by the Kerala high court in May.

“He (Rahul) has cheated us. He took the video without our knowledge. What is shown in the video is not correct,” said father Ashokan, an ex-serviceman. He said the video gave a wrong picture that his daughter continues to live as a Muslim and she was under tremendous pressure.

“Being the grandson of Sabariamala thantri (main priest) we gave him some consideration and allowed to visit us. But we never thought he will become a tool in the hands of fundamentalist outfits” Ashokan said.

In the complaint field at Vaikkom police station (Kottayam) Ashokan said Rahul exploited the situation and cheated them.

“He said he is taking selfies for his personal use and assured us they won’t be made public. But he gave the photos and video to the media the next day,” he said.

Rahul claimed he shot the video with the knowledge and consent of the family.