More than 200 cows died of starvation in Chattisgarh’s Durg district in the last two days, Rajpur village Sarpanch Pati Sevaram Sahu told ANI on Friday. The animals were housed in a shelter owned by senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader Harish Verma Patre, The New Indian Express reported.

Dhamda block sub-divisional magistrate Rajesh Patre visited the cow shelter and said that the postmortem report is awaited, but “prima facie, it seems the cows did not receive proper care”. A four-member will conduct an investigation, Patre said.

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In July, about 25 cows had died at a government facility in Haryana’s Kurukshetra because of an purported lack of access to fodder after incessant showers hit the region. This development took place amid reports of cow-related violence in the region.

Protection of cattle has triggered heated debates across the country as right-wing groups are using violence to propagate their beliefs. The matter even sparked nationwide demonstrations against cow-related attacks.