Guwahati police’s new assignment: Taking care of ‘stolen’ cows in shifts
GUWAHATI: For almost a month now, a police outpost on the outskirts of Guwahati has been saddled with a new responsibility that has nothing to do with law and order. After the police caught three trucks ferrying 85 cows, suspected to have been stolen, on September 10, five policemen and six others have been working in shifts to tend to the cattle.
Appeals to civilian authorities for help have gone unheeded, according to officers at the North Guwahati police outpost under the Changsari police station. Policemen say the local cow shelter in Guwahati hasn’t been of help either.
“We wrote to the directorate of animal husbandry and veterinary sciences (DAHVS), the Guwahati municipal corporation and even a local gaushala. None has responded, citing lack of infrastructure. The cattle appear to be stolen since the papers with the driver and the handyman (travelling with the cows) were not in order,” said Bhadreswar Pegu, officer-in-charge of the Changsari police station.
Cow slaughter is regulated in Assam, but no such regulation exists in neighbouring Meghalaya. Border Security Force (BSF) officers said several cattle also make their way from northern states to be smuggled into Bangladesh and cattle runners had shifted their sights to Meghalaya because of heightened vigil along the Assam-bangladesh border.
The cattle seized by Changsari police were initially kept in a small piece of land adjacent to the police outpost, but the area was not large enough to accommodate so many of the animals.
“We have asked the locals to pitch in. Taking care of such a large number of cattle is not easy. It costs a few thousand rupees every day,” Pegu said, adding that some local businessmen had been enlisted to supply wheat bran and hay to feed the animals, besides water tankers.
“The local unit of Bajrang Dal has helped us too. We are just feeding them enough to keep them alive,” he said. DAVHS has deputed veterinary doctors to look after the animals.
“We cannot take their custody. We told the high court, this is not in our jurisdiction,” said DAHVS director Pullin Das.