Belagavi: Maneka inspects illegal' slaughter houses, demands CBI probe
The Union Minister was reportedly shocked to find large-scale illegal slaughter of cattle in slaughter houses.
Belagavi: Union Minister for Women and Child Development and noted animal rights activist, Maneka Gandhi visited slaughter houses and cold storages at Auto Nagar in Belagavi city on Thursday and alleged that they were being run illegally with the help of local authorities including some police officials. While suspecting the involvement of officials in the illegal trade, she said she would demand a CBI inquiry against the slaughter houses.
The Union Minister visited illegal slaughter houses along with BJP leaders Jagadish Shettar, Pralhad Joshi and Suresh Angadi and was reportedly shocked to find large scale slaughter of cattle taking place illegally. A group of BJP leaders headed by MP, Suresh Angadi have demanded a high-level inquiry into the functioning of these illegal slaughter houses and cold storages which allegedly also employ several illegal Bangladeshi immigrants. The leaders alleged that the government is unwilling to take action against the owners of slaughters houses, under pressure from Belagavi Congress MLA Feroz Sait. They alleged that the brother of the MLA, Asif Sait offered Rs 75 lakh bribe to advocate Harshvardhan Patil of BJP to stop the opposition to these illegal slaughter houses.
Addressing a press conference, Mr Angadi said as per official documents, no body including KIADB and the Environment Ministry have given approval for the slaughter house and cold storages located at Kanabargi. With the support of MLA Sait, most of these cold storages and slaughter houses were being run illegally, he said adding that the police was hand-in-glove with the MLA and unwilling to register an FIR or take action against the owners.
Claiming that several illegal Bangla immigrants were employed in these cold storages, the MP said the police had failed to check the passports and identity cards of the Bangla residents though he had raised the issue several times. According to him, at least 50 illegal immigrants from Bangladesh resided in one single apartment at Ramteerth Nagar but the police did not make any effort to check their citizenship details.