Rajnandgaon (Chhattisgarh), Oct 17 Ten people were arrested and a minor girl was detained in the district on Saturday for allegedly slaughtering two cows and selling the meat, police said.
The case came to light after a severed cow’s head was found near an under-construction bridge in Gaurinagar on October 12, while another head was found in Shitala pond in the same area two days later, an official said.
In view of the seriousness of the matter and the ongoing Navratri festival, senior officials were informed and an investigation was launched following a complaint, he said.
Teams from Chikhli police station and the cyber cell were formed to investigate the case. The police examined the CCTV footage showing some people taking stray cattle to their house.
They were identified as Gaurinagar resident Abdul Alim alias Kanwa (39), his wife and daughter, and were taken into custody.
Alim allegedly confessed that he had slaughtered the cows with the help of his wife, 17-year-old daughter and others, and sold the meat.
Alim, his wife Anjum Begum (35), Salman Khan (19), Mohammad Sakir Khan (20), Moin Gauri (35), Arif Qureshi (39), Salim Akhtar (42), Syed Nadeem (38), Mohammad Siraj (46) and Mohammad Tohid (28) were arrested while the minor girl was detained, the official said.
The accused were booked under sections 299 (deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage religious feelings), 325 (mischief by killing or maiming an animal), 238 (causing the disappearance of evidence) and 3(5) (common intention) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, along with provisions of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act and the Arms Act, police said, adding that further probe is underway.
(PTI News)
