TEAM HERALD
bureau@herald-goa.com
PONDA: While cattle slaughtering has been temporarily suspended at the Goa Meat Complex, an animal died of natural causes in the complex on Friday morning.
The incident has sparked off a controversy, with authorities at Goa Meat Complex refusing to dispose of the carcass citing High Court directives.
It may be recalled that the court had recently issued directives to temporarily stop slaughtering of cattle at Goa Meat Complex. The directives were a result of a petition filed by Govansh Raksha Abhiyan alleging illegal slaughtering of animals.
Acting on the directives, the Ponda Mamlatdar took inventory and recorded 132 animals at the complex. According to reports, the complex was directed not to return custody of any animal to any person until further orders.
Ruling out any foul play in the death of the animal, the Govansh Raksha Abhiyan has, however, accused the Goa Meat Complex of failing to dispose of the corpse.
“The animal died due to natural causes. Our volunteers have been stationed at the complex to feed the cattle and we have even have made arrangement for fodder,” Govansh Raksha Abhiyan President Hanumant Parab told Herald.
“After the cattle died, we had requested the complex in-charge to take necessary action, but it was of no use. The corpse will start decomposing soon and we plan to approach the High Court tomorrow,” added Parab.
Goa Meat Complex In-charge Ramdas Naik has claimed that they are helpless due to the court directives.
“Though we have custody of the animals, we cannot dispose of the corpse due to the directives. We can dispose off the corpse only on instructions of the court,” Naik told Herald.
Meanwhile, a trader has filed a police complaint against the Govansh Raksha Abhiyan on Friday.
The trader informed police that he had procured the cattle and he had suffered a loss of about Rs 20,000 following the death of the animal.
