8 Uttar Pradesh officials booked after cattle deaths

Police have booked eight officials, days after 10 animals were found dead and not disposed of properly at a cow shelter in UP's Lalitpur district, authorities said on Thursday.

The cattle had died under mysterious circumstances last week at the temporary cow shelter in Saujana in Mahroni tehsil.

Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra had raised concerns over the "horrific" conditions of cows in Uttar Pradesh and asked Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath to take a cue from her party-led government in Chhattisgarh on their protection.

In a two-page letter to the Chief Minister, she cited pictures of dead cows at Saujana and said they were "heart-wrenching and disturbing".

On Wednesday, a case was lodged against eight people based on the complaint of Chief Veterinary Officer Krishan Shakya, said Mahroni Circle Officer (CO) Phool Chand Yadav.

District Panchayati Raj Officer Avdhesh Singh and Block Development Officer Sunil Kumar Singh are among those against whom the case has been registered, the CO said.

Yadav said no arrest has so far been made in this connection and the matter is being probed.

Others named in the FIR are forest officer Abdul Shamir Ansari, Animal husbandry officer Ranjit Kumar Kushwaha, revenue inspector Manohar Rajput, lekhpal Ghanshyam Sen, gram panchayat adhikari Saurabh Yadav and gram pradhan Ajayvir Vikram, the CO said.

Mahroni Sub-Divisional Magistrate (SDM) Mohammad Kamar said DM Dinesh Kumar has ordered a magisterial inquiry into the death of cattle and failure to properly dispose of their carcasses.

Madawara SDM S P Singh has been asked to conduct the probe, Kamar said.

The DM has already suspended an animal husbandry officer, a gram panchayat adhikari and a lekhpal (revenue officer) in connection with the incident.

Attacking the chief minister, Priyanka Gandhi on Monday said even though he came to power claiming to protect the cows, his government has "completely failed", and asked who should be held responsible for their deaths.

"Before coming to power, you had talked of 'Gau-Vansh raksha' (cow protection) and setting up of 'Gaushalas'. The truth is that your government has completely failed in this regard despite announcements by your government.

"Cows are being mal-treated in the name of 'Gau-vansh'. Cow shelters have been opened but the truth is that cows are not given water and fodder and there is complete insensitivity towards them. The entire system is gripped in corruption," she said, wondering how many cows are dying across the state.