GANDHINAGAR: Even though the Gujarat government has claimed to have come out with stringent laws against the slaughtering of cows and illegal beef trade and transportation in the state, over 110 tons of cow meat was seized by the Gujarat Police in the last two years.
In March 2017, the state had announced that the slaughtering of cows and transportation of cow meat would be punishable by life sentence. Despite this, after almost three years of the announcement, the Gujarat government disclosed during the ongoing budget session of the Assembly that the Police had seized 100,490 kg cow meat, that is over 110 tons of illegal beef in the last two years. The maximum seizure was from Surat - 55,162 kg.
During the same time, the police also caught 3,462 cattle being illegally transported across the state. The maximum number, 747, was seized in Panchmahal district.
A number of the BJP-led states, including Gujarat, have tightened laws regarding cow slaughter since Narendra Modi came to power at the centre in 2014.