BJP leader Harish Verma arrested for the death of 27 bovines in his cowshed in Chhattisgarh's Durg district, has been accused of skinning cow carcasses and feeding fish in his ponds.
A senior official of Chhattisgarh Gau Sewa Aayog has confirmed that a probe was underway on these charges against Harish Verma, reported The Times of India.
At least 27 cows had died at a government-aided cow shelter run by Verma in 3 days in Durg district of Chhattisgarh, who was arrested on Friday.
The Chhattisgarh Rajya Gau Sewa Aayog, which lodged an FIR with the police after its team visited the cow shelter run by Verma, had alleged that lack of proper facilities at the cow shelter were responsible for the deaths.
"Harish Verma, the cow shed owner, was arrested based on the complaint of the Chhattisgarh Rajya Gau Sewa Aayog," Inspector General of Police (Durg Range) Dipanshu Kabra told PTI.
However, Verma has claimed that the cows died due to the collapse of a boundary wall on August 15.
According to a Hindustan Times report, a team of veterinary doctors found 70 cow carcasses at Phoolchandra Goshala in Godmarra village and 20 at Mayuri Goshala in Rano. Both the villages are hardly 15 km away from Rajapur’s Shagun Goshala where the deaths were reported.
Referring to the Chief Minister's comments earlier this year, AICC spokesperson Abhishek Singhvi said 'gauraksha' (cow protection) has been reduced to the killing of innocents, mostly of minority community.
The Congress party had charged the BJP with ignoring the death of several cows at a cowshed run by Verma in Chhattisgarh and asked whether Chief Minister Raman Singh would impose death penalty on "one of their own" as he had sought earlier.
