Locals in Madhya Pradesh’s Khandwa force alleged cattle-transporters to chant ‘Gau mata ki jai’; police register case against perpetrators

Khandwa: Over 100 villagers tied 25 people with a rope and paraded them through a two-kilometre stretch to a police station in Khandwa district of Madhya Pradesh on Sunday for allegedly transporting cows to Maharashtra, police said. A video of the purported incident showed several villagers carrying sticks and forcing the alleged cattle-transporters to do sit-ups holding their ears amid cries of “Gau Mata Ki Jai”.

#WATCH Several people tied with a rope and made to chant "Gau mata ki jai" in Khandwa, Madhya Pradesh on accusation of carrying cattle in their vehicles. (7.7.19) (Note - Abusive language) pic.twitter.com/5pbRZ4hNsR

— ANI (@ANI) July 7, 2019

The incident happened in Sanwalikheda village in Khalwas area, about 60 kilometres from the district headquarters, a police official said. “We have booked the people ferrying the cattle for doing so without requisite permissions. We have also lodged a case against the villagers, including farmers, for ill-treating those booked for unauthorised cattle transport,” Khandwa superintendent of police Shivdayal Singh told PTI. “Villagers brought the group transporting cows to our police station. We seized 21 trucks used for the purpose. The cows have been shifted to a shelter. They were taking the cows from Harda district in Madhya Pradesh to Maharashtra,” said Inspector Harishanker Rawat of Khalwas police station. The incident comes a day before the start of the Madhya Pradesh Assembly session in which the Kamal Nath government is likely to table an amendment in a law to curb violence in the name of cow protection. The state cabinet last month approved the proposal to amend the Madhya Pradesh Cow Progeny Slaughter Prevention Act, 2004. The move to amend the law, cleared during the previous BJP government, came after a Muslim man and woman were beaten up on suspicion of carrying beef in Madhya Pradesh’s Seoni district in May.