Stray cattle menace: Villagers lock cows in UP school

A case has been registered against 24 people for allegedly evicting students and teachers of a government primary school in Uttar Pradesh to keep stray cows, officials said Thursday.

It has been alleged that villagers in Kudana brought the cows inside the school on Wednesday and closed it, Shamli District Magistrate Akhilesh Kumar said.

In December, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath had directed officials to make immediate arrangements for proper care of stray cows within a week.

Besides asking officials to make 750 cows shelters set up at the Zilla Panchayat level functional, he had also directed them that proper fodder, shed and drinking facilities should be provided to the bovines both in rural and urban areas.

He had also ordered clearing of grazing grounds in different parts of the state from encroachments. 

He had said the state government has allotted Rs 10 crore to each of the 16 municipal corporations to arrange shelter for stray cows, while Rs 1.2 crore has been given to every district for setting up gaushalas.

READ | Ensure Shelter For Stray Cows: Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath To Officials

In a complaint, the education department has said students and teachers were told to vacate the school by villagers who herded stray cows inside the institute's campus, the district magistrate said.  

Classes were conducted outside the school after the villagers forced their way inside the school along with stray cows, a teacher said, requesting anonymity. 

Police have registered an FIR against 24 people, of whom four people -- Pawanvir, Omperkash, Rohtash and Brijlal -- have been named, Kumar told reporters Thursday.

READ | It's a 'sin' to seek votes in name of cows: Arvind Kejriwal

The villagers disrupted school work. Police are searching them, he said.

Superintendent of Police, Shamli, Ajay Kumar Pandey said strict action will be taken against the those who disrupted school work by confining stray cows inside the institute.

Farmers in the state are faced with the problem of stray cows damaging their crops They have been demanded a solution to the problem.

READ | 'He Said What He Felt Like, Doesn’t Mean It’s The Truth', Says Anupam Kher While Reacting To Naseeruddin Shah's 'Cows Above Cop' Comment