Seven bovines dead in Chhattisgarh shelter due to starvation; Cong slams BJP govt

Durg, Dec 5 (PTI) Seven bovines were found dead in a 'gauthan' in Godhi village in Chhattisgarh's Durg district allegedly of starvation, an official said on Thursday.

An FIR was lodged on Wednesday night under Chhattisgarh Agricultural Cattle Preservation Act, Nandini police station official Manish Sharma said.

"It seems villagers put these cattle in the shelter to save their crops from getting damaged. However, the cattle remained locked inside for a few days and died possibly of starvation. The exact cause of death will be known after we get the post mortem report," Sharma informed.

Meanwhile, Naresh Chandravanshi, an officer bearer of Madhav Sena, a local group engaged in cow service, said he received information about these deaths on December 3 and rushed to the shelter.

"The post mortem was carried out on Wednesday. I have submitted a police complaint. At least 15 heads of cattle died and the bodies were thrown out of the village to cover up the incident. The bovines died due to lack of care and starvation," he alleged.

Surendra Verma, spokesperson of the opposition Congress said the "gruesome scene" of Godhi gauthan is proof of misrule of the BJP government.

"Body parts of cows are scattered all around in Godhi gauthan. Some dead cows have been thrown outside the gauthan. The BJP, which does politics in the name of cows, does not have time to take notice of the condition of gauthan. The BJP government closed thousands of gauthans which were set up during the previous Congress government without making any alternative arrangement," Verma claimed. PTI COR TKP BNM