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On 3 October, a dairy farmer from Alwar district was robbed of his livelihood by cow vigilantes on suspicion of cow smuggling.
All of Subba Khan’s 51 cows were taken away when the cattle were out grazing with his wife. Baseri, his wife, was confronted by two youngsters from a nearby village who tried to take the cattle away from her, accusing her of smuggling cows.
Talking to Hindustan Times, she said that the police was there but they were mere spectators. Later, they helped the vigilantes take the cows to the Shri Krishna Gaushala in Bambora Ghati.
Kishangarh police station SHO, Chand Singh Rathore, said, “On 3 October, we got information that some villagers were obstructing the road with their cattle. To prevent any law and order situation, we acted promptly and took the cattle to the local gaushala and cleared the national highway.”
Rathore further claimed that the sub-divisional magistrate had launched an inquiry and it was underway. No FIR has been filed yet.
The president of the Shri Krishna Gaushala, Shrikrishna Gupta who is also a BJP leader told Hindustan Times that the police and some villagers had brought several cows to the Gaushala on 3 October. “Hardly 8 to 10 among those are milch cattle, the rest are not in good health. After the inquiry, if the administration orders us to give the cows back to the family, we’ll do so. But the family will have to give us compensation,” he said.
Subba Khan belongs to the Meo community. About six months ago, Pehlu Khan, another dairy farmer from the same community, was killed at the hands of cow vigilantes on suspicion of cow smuggling in the same district.
Khan comes from Sahubas Village in Kishangarh, 51 kilometers from Alwar. His family has been selling milk for years.
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