200 cows died due to starvation in his gaushala, BJP leader blames own government

Chhattisgarh BJP leader Harish Verma has held his own party’s state government responsible for the deaths of 200 cows due to starvation in Durg district’s Shagun Gaushala.

According to a report published in The Indian Express, Harish Verma who was arrested by police on the charges of “breach of trust and negligence” has claimed that his own party’s government has not released enough funds for maintaining the Gaushala.

The BJP leader, Harish Verma, who is also the vice president of Jamul Nagar Nigam, has been running the shelter for the last seven years.

Amid the raging debate on cow protection and growing incidents of attacks by self-made rightwing vigilantes, over 200 cows succumbed to death due to starvation and lack of medicines in a Gaushala maintained by the BJP leader.

The residents of Rajpur village, where the Gaushala is located claimed that over 200 cows died due to starvation and lack of medicines at the shelter within three days. The authorities have, however, confirmed only 27 starvation-related deaths.

“We noticed JCB machines operating near the cow shelter two days ago and informed media persons. When we reached here, we found that many trenches were being dug to bury the dead cows lying around,” said Seva Ram Sahu, the Rajpur Sarpanch’s husband.

The villagers are alleging that most of the dead cows have already been buried near the shelter. Several carcasses, other than those buried, were found in the vicinity, they told media.

According to doctors present at the spot, cows died due to “starvation and lack of medicines”.