MP: Over dozen booked for ‘harassing’ illegal cattle transporters

The villagers paraded the transporters tied to one another, made them hold their ears

Ears protest Khandwa ANI The cow transporters being made to hold their ears in Khandwa | Twitter handle of ANI

Over a dozen villagers in Sanwalikheda of Khandwa district in Madhya Pradesh have been booked for allegedly harassing people illegally transporting cattle. A case has also been registered against approximately 25 of these cattle transporters, police said.

The Khalwa police in Khandwa booked the villagers who tied up about 25 persons—allegedly transporting cattle illegally from Harda in Madhya Pradesh to Maharashtra—and paraded them about 2km to a police station, tied to one another with rope.

The villagers also made these transporters do sit-ups holding their ears and chant Gau Mata ki Jai. Videos of the incident were shot and later went viral on social media, following which the police swung into action.

“We have registered case against about 12-15 persons who were involved in the incident. They are absconding but search is on for them. We are trying to identify more from the videos available,” Shiv Dayal Singh, superintendent of police of Khandwa, told THE WEEK.

He added that a case was also registered against the 25 persons taking cattle in vehicles as they did not have the requisite documents. The police seized 21 vehicles and about two dozen cattle and sent them to animal shelters.

The incident occurred on Sunday when the villagers chanced upon the vehicles carrying the cattle. They rounded up the accompanying persons and called the police. As the arrival of the police was delayed, the villagers decided to tie the persons to each other with a rope and parade them to the police station.

The incident came just ahead of the commencement of the monsoon session of the state Assembly. During this session, the government will be moving an amendment to the MP Cow Progeny Slaughter Prevention Act, 2004, that makes mob violence and lynching in the name of cow protection punishable. The state cabinet last month approved the proposal to amend the Act.