Surkhet, Aug 31:
A large herd of cattle left stranded in a jungle of Birendranagar of Surkhet has been rescued and the Birendranagar municipality has already started sending it back to Nepalgunj.
There was report that those cows and oxen had been picked up from the Nepalgunj-based Kanji House citing that they would be taken to Dailekh.
But had been dropped in the Katukuwa jungle and some were found dead, allegedly after being pushed from cliff.
So far 142 cattle were sent back to Nepalgunj, Surkhet District Police Spokesperson Deputy Superintendent of Police Rabi Rawal said. Those injured will be given veterinary care before transporting back.
The number of dead cattle has reached 30. Police are waiting for the post-mortem reports to determine either they were killed or the deaths were due to other reasons.
According to a letter received from the District Administration Office, Banke, the cattle collected from the Kanji House were said to be transported to Shirsthan, the religious site in Dailekh.
But the Bhairabi rural municipality where Shirsthan lies said it had not demanded for them in oral or in writing.
Rural municipality chair Prem Bahadur Budha said neither the local government nor the Shirsthan Temple Management Committee had demanded for them before the Nepalgunj metropolis. “There is no sufficient space to accommodate such a large number of cattle in Shirsthan,” he said, refuting the report.
The rural municipality office and the Temple Management Committee have demanded impartial investigations into the issue and action against those found guilty in the case.
A herd of 291 cows and oxen was left stranded in the jungle in the wee hours of Friday. Those dead were believed to have been pushed from the cliff and locals have termed it ‘a mass killing’ and demanded action. A rally was organised here today in protest of the incident.
In his address to a programme, Surkhet Chamber of Commerce and Industry condemned the ‘inhumane’ treatment against cattle.
He accused the sheer negligence of the Nepalgunj sub metropolis in the matter.
The Surkhet Police had already arrested seven: five drivers and two assistant drivers of those trucks used to carry cattle here from Nepalgunj and they are under investigation.
The Criminal Code has prohibited the killing or any sort of activities capable of causing injury to cow or ox with the provision of a three-year jail sentence against the killing of cow or ox. Cow is constitutionally the national animal of Nepal.
