In a shocking incident, at least 10-15 cows and oxen were attacked with acid in the Karmana village of Uttar Pradesh, leading to tension in the area.
The incident — which took place barely 5 km from the Taj Mahal — was first highlighted by some right-wing organisations.
"The district magistrate has sent a team of veterinary doctors, while an additional city magistrate and police force have been stationed in the area to ensure peace," said a report in the Times of India.
Police initiate action
"We had been receiving inputs about cows being attacked in Karmana and nearby villages, but we failed to identify the assailants. On Sunday, six cows were attacked and we informed local administration," Mukesh Goswami, the Agra district coordinator of the Bajrang Dal, told the newspaper.
Tajganj station officer Raja Singh said: "We have filed a FIR against unknown persons under IPC's Section 429." They are also probing the matter.
Local reports, however, claimed that the police and the administrative authorities had initially not heeded reports of bovines being attacked with acid, despite complaints.
Unproductive cattle attacked?
A local resident, Ankaj Yadav told ToI: "Only those cows and oxen who were abandoned for being unproductive have been attacked."
The daily also quoted a doctor as saying: "They [the bovines] might have been attacked by villagers when they spotted them in their field."
In April this year, a similar incident had come to light in the Bhopani village in the Faridabad district of Haryana. The district borders the country's capital city, New Delhi.
Back then, it had been determined that the bovines had been attacked by local villagers themselves, to stop the animals from grazing on standing crops and destroying them in the process.
