HYDERABAD: A double-decker vehicle containing 71 young calves stuffed one atop another and another small container carrying 23 calves were caught when they were trafficking cattle in two separate incidents in a single day earlier this week. More than 700 cattle were rescued from illegal slaughter houses and over 15 FIRs have been registered in the last 30 days, according to Dhyan Foundation, an NGO.
Of the 71 cattle caught in the Pahadi Shareef police station limits, one died of suffocation. The other container was intercepted in the RGIA police station limits. All of them have been rehabilitated at the NGO’s gaushala in Shamshabad.
"This is just in one day - countless cattle are being trafficked daily in the city for slaughter. Mafia groups are justifying their actions and openly threatening those who are following the law of dire consequences. The government must protect the vulnerable sections who are being threatened. The culprits are also hurting the religious sentiments of millions of Hindus and Muslims," members of the NGO said.
Supreme Court lawyer Shiraz Qureshi and Persian scholar Imran Chaudhary visited the rescued animals at the animal shelter and expressed anguish at the activities of the mafia.
"Is the city of Hyderabad above the rule of law? Have the reigns of the city been taken over by the cattle mafia? So it seems from the unabated crime against voiceless animals," they said, and sought protection from such forces after having received threats.
