The stray cattle are stolen at night and are reportedly sold off to various abattoirs in the State.
Unhappy over growing road mishaps due to the presence of stray cattle along village roads in the taluka, some miscreants are seizing the opportunity to make money by selling the unattended bovines.
Many farmers have been complaining that their bovines have begun disappearing overnight and have never returned, fuelling speculation that the unscrupulous elements have been selling off the stray cattle to slaughter houses.
According to sources, the modus operandi is simple: somewhere in the middle of the night, miscreants arrive in a pickup or carrier-rickshaw and pickup the unattended stray cattle, before selling them off at throwaway prices in remote parts of the village to escape attention or suspicion.
Rajendra Velip of Agonda claims to have lost three of his cattle since the past one-and-half years.
“There is no sign of them since they disappeared. We initially suspected that some wild animals may have devoured them but we began to have doubts as no animal remains were ever found in the nearby forests,” said Velip.
Last year, a shepherd from Barcem-Padi was caught red-handed by members of the animal rights group ‘Go-Rakshan’, while he was loading cattle into a carrier-rickshaw at a grazing field in Devabaga late in the evening. He was later handed over to the police.
The Go-Rakshan members claimed that the shepherd was selling off the stray cattle to some illegal slaughter houses.
“The shepherd, an old man, however, proved his innocence and walked free from the police station on the very second day,” added the source.
“It is worrying that due to the lethargic attitude of some farmers, there have been growing cases of anti-social elements stealing stray cattle and selling them off to slaughter houses,” agrees former CMC chairperson Madhav Dessai.
While farmers want a complete stop on these anti-social activities, they have not been serious enough to guard their cattle by ensuring their safe return to their respective cowsheds at night. Instead, they want the police to step up night patrolling to prevent cattle thieves from clandestinely lifting their castle from the village roads.
