Karnal (Haryana): The police arrested four persons in connection with the death of 45 cows due to food poisoning in Phusgarh gaushala in January. The police said that a preliminary investigation has revealed that the accused had poisoned the cows to earn quick bucks by selling their skin and bones. The accused confessed to committing the crime, police said.
CIA-2 in-charge Inspector Mohanlal and his team arrested the four on Sunday. The accused, identified as Vishal from Deha Basti in Shahabad, Rajat from Karnal, Suraj from Jammu and Kashmir and Sonu from Heha Basti in Ambala Cantt, were produced before the court on Monday and taken into remand for further questioning, police said.
A committee was formed in January to investigate into the death of such a large number of cows. During the interrogation, the accused told police they used to earn Rs 8,000 to 10,000 a month, but was difficult to run their families with such a low income. So, they started lifting the carcasses of the dead cows in the gaushala and selling their bones and skin.
They took the carcasses to a plot near Yamuna where the skin and bones were separated. But, for the past few days, they were not getting any profit as they got only two or three dead cows every day. So, to earn well they planned to kill many cows together. They said that a dead cow fetched Rs 10,000.
The accused confessed they had committed a similar crime in the past when five cows were killed by poisoning. Interrogation revealed that the accused had hatched a plan to kill the cows on January 26. They mixed celphos with jaggery and fed the cows. The next day, police and municipal corporation officials buried the dead cows. This angered the accused, who threatened not to lift any carcasses in the future. Police said they were trying to trace the mastermind of this incident and nab the gang members.
