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Hooch bust in Datia district of Madhya Pradesh ends in death of 5 cows
Local people accused the authorities of destroying the alcohol drums in the open and not taking precautions to stop access of the liquor to the cows.
An operation to bust an illegal liquor den in Datia district of Madhya Pradesh ended bizarrely with five stray cows dying after drinking the alcohol that had collected in pits when the containers were destroyed, a district official said Sunday.
The district collector ordered a probe into the matter.
“A joint team of police and excise department on Friday raided Kanjar Basti in Indergarh area of the district. The team recovered hundreds of litres of illicit liquor and destroyed it on the spot. About 20 cows drank the liquor and fell ill. Three cows died on Saturday while the two died on Sunday. The carcasses were buried after post mortem. The remaining 15 cows are being treated in a camp of the veterinary department,” said G Das, deputy director animal husbandry department.
However, the locals claimed that as many as nine cows died after drinking the illicit liquor. Gau Samvardhan Board, Datia, vice president and a local resident, Shishupal Singh Chauhan said, “Nine cows died but the district administration is trying to hide the matter. The cows died due to negligence of authorities. They destroyed the drums having illicit liquor in the open. The liquor collected in small pits from where it was consumed by cows. The district administration should take action against the officials responsible.”
Datia district collector Sanjay Kumar refuted the claims of locals of higher bovine casualties.
“The locals are exaggerating the number of deaths. Only five cows died after consuming illicit liquor. I ordered an inquiry in the matter and further action will be taken after the inquiry,” Kumar said.
Earlier this week, 24 people were killed in a hooch tragedy in Morena. Last October, 14 people died after drinking illicit liquor in Ujjain.
