A report submitted by the Block Development Officer (BDO) in Amroha has not ruled out the possibility of the main accused — who supplied fodder to a cow shelter at Santhalpur village — allegedly deliberately sprinkling a high quantity of insecticide on the fodder for bovines that allegedly killed at least 60 of them and led to dozens falling ill on Thursday. The BDO (Gangeshwari Block), Renu Kumari submitted her report to Amroha District Magistrate Bal Krishan Tripathi. An FIR was registered at Adampur police station against the main accused, identified only as Tahir, and two others. They have been booked under IPC sections 295 A (Deliberate acts,intended to outrage feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious feeling), 153 A (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion etc.) 429 (Mischief by killing or maiming cattle etc),120 A (Criminal Conspiracy) and 24 (Acts done by several persons in furtherance of common cause) besides relevant sections of the UP Cow Slaughter Act and the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act. “Eight persons, including six employees of the cow shelter at Santhalpur, the suspended Village Development Officer, Mohammed Anas have been taken into custody. We will also question the gram pradhan Ram Autar Singh. Five police teams have been formed to trace the accused,” said SP (Amroha) Aditya Langeh. Meanwhile, a three-member team from the Indian Veterinary Research Institute (IVRI), Bareilly, tested the sample of the fodder and found “over-use of Nitrate” in the insecticide. “Normally, farmers do not sprinkle such a quantity of Nitrate on crops to prevent these from being destroyed by insects but we have found an overdose of it in the fodder,” said K P Singh, Joint Director, IVRI, who led the team of experts. State Minister for Secondary Education Gulabo Devi, who inspected the cow shelter on Friday, said that those arrested in this connection will be booked under the National Security Act (NSA). “We should teach such elements a lesson for life so that no one dares to indulge in such condemnable acts,” she said. “We have arrested eight persons including six ad hoc employees of the cow shelter,” said Ram Prakash Sharma, in-charge of Adampur police station.
