Four men were arrested from Gujarat’s Banaskantha district for allegedly killing a cow, PTI reported on Wednesday. The Gujarat Police booked the men under the Gujarat Animal Preservation (Amendment) Act 2017, under which an accused can be sentenced to life for slaughtering a cow.
The accused were identified as Aiyub Vagadiya, Jamaluddin Vagadiya, Arif Vagadiya and Israilbhai Vagadiya from the district’s Maanpur village. They were arrested after a resident of Kansa village Raghabhai Bumadiya filed a complaint, alleging that they had killed one of his cows after it entered their cattle shed.
“The accused attacked one of the cows in a fit of rage and killed the animal using sticks, choppers and an axe,” Sub-Inspector AR Vala said. The four men have denied the allegations, saying they found the cow dead near their cattle shed, The Times of India reported.
The incident comes a week after the first case under the new law was registered in Gujarat’s Dahod district. On July 13, two brothers were arrested following raids in Dahod’s Juna Vankarvas Kasba area, where the police had found a slaughtered cow and an ox, the Ahmedabad Mirror reported on July 14.
Under the Gujarat Animal Preservation (Amendment) Bill, 2017, which was passed by the state Assembly on March 31, slaughtering cattle, including cows, calves and bulls can earn a minimum of 10 years in jail. The prison term could extend to a life sentence. The previous law involved a maximum jail term of seven years.
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