BHOPAL: A probe has been ordered by the Bhopal district administration into the death of dozens of cows in and around a gaushala (cowshed) run by an alleged BJP worker Nirmala Devi Shandilya on the outskirts of the Madhya Pradesh capital.
A team of officials led by Bhopal district collector Avinash Lavaniya visited the Gausewa Bharti Gaushala in the Berasiya area and conducted a detailed inspection there. The district collector ordered a detailed probe into the death of cows in and around the gaushala, the autopsy of the cow carcasses and also directed the Berasiya development block officials to take over the concerned gaushala.
A case was registered u/s 269 and 270 IPC, (negligent act likely to spread infection or disease) against the head of the gaushala at the Berasiya police station by the SDM-Berasiya on the instructions by the collector.
Locals and cow vigilantes protested outside the gaushala over the death of cows, demanding strict action against those running the cowshed.
Importantly, the Gausewa Bharti Gaushala is being run for the last two decades in the Berasiya area by alleged BJP worker Nirmala Devi Shandilya, who claims to have been the Berasiya Block president in the past.
Cow vigilantes and right-wing Hindu outfits activists reached the spot after coming to know about cow carcasses strewn all around the gaushala and adjoining land. Visuals from the spot showed cow carcasses stuffed inside a well in the gaushala and cow carcasses and skeletons strewn all around outside the gaushala.
"We demand stern action against the gaushala and its owner and a probe to check the possibility of the gaushala being indulgent in cow skin and bones trade," local VHP leader Janak Singh Rajput demanded.
Local resident Ghanshyam Gupta alleged that the gaushala head was running a racket that killed cows and then traded in the hide and bones of the dead cows.
Another resident Raju Dhakad alleged that the nefarious trade of killing cows and trading their remains was going on for years at the gaushala. "Whenever residents complained against her and the gaushala, she used her political influence to get villagers and residents booked by police in false cases. Around 500-700 cows have died at the gaushala," Dhakad alleged.
Nirmala, however, denied allegations of residents and cow vigilantes. "People leave their ill and debilitated cows here, the carcasses you are seeing are of cows who have died due to illnesses. These cows don't belong to our gaushala but were left here by outsiders. The villagers are targeting my gaushala because I've stopped gambling and bootlegging here. I'm ready to face any probe or case in the matter," she said.
Meanwhile, the former CM and Congress's Rajya Sabha member Digvijaya Singh tweeted over the issue, demanding that the gaushala head Nirmala Devi Shandilya be booked for the killing of cows and the possibility of the cows' skin and bones being illegally traded by the gaushala head be probed. A probe should also be done to enquire how many grants did the gaushala get from the government in the past.
Meanwhile, when questioned about Nirmala Devi Shandilya's association with the BJP, the ruling party's two-time sitting MLA from Berasiya seat Vishnu Khatri said, "As far as I know she has never held any post in the local party unit and has also never been given any responsibility by the party organisation. She isn't an active worker of the party, neither has she ever contested any polls on the BJP symbol. BJP is the world's largest political party with crores of members. She could just be a primary member and nothing else."