100 cows found dead in Vijayawada Gaushala

As many as 100 cows died at Kothuru gaushala in Tadepalli. Suspicions are being raised over the feed given to the cows on Friday night.

Vijayawada (Andra Pradesh): About 100 cows are found dead and a few were battling for life, after consuming fodder in Gaushala, located at Kothur Tadepalli village, on Vijayawada outskirts on Friday night.

The Gaushala is being run by Vijayawada Gow Samrakshana Samithi. Food poisoning was suspected to be the reason for the tragedy. Members of the Samithi allege conspiracy over the mass deaths of the cows.

Gaushala general secretary Sahu lodged a complaint with Two Town police in the early hours on Saturday over the incident.

Police collected samples of fodder and water served to cows in the shed. "We are verifying the CCTV footages in the vicinity", said Two Town Circle Inspector Md. Omar.

"There are about 1,450 cows in Gaushala. Veterinary surgeon Sreedhar visited the spot, and the dead cows were being shifted to Government Veterinary Hospital for postmortem", said Mr Sahu.

Earlier, 24 cows died in Gaushala reportedly due to food poisoning. An investigation is on.