Chhattisgarh strictly enforcing cow slaughter law: Minister

Chhattisgarh government has been strictly enforcing the law banning cow slaughter in the state where about 31,000 cattle had been rescued from animal smugglers in the past 12 years, a minister said today.
"The Chhattisgarh Government is strictly enforcing the law to ban cow slaughter," Agriculture Minister Brijmohan Agrawal said in a statement here.
As many as 1,373 cases of cattle smuggling had been registered so far under the Chhattisgarh Agricultural Cattle Preservation Act, which was enacted in 2004.
In these cases, around 30,922 bovines were rescued from smugglers, he added.
Chief Minister Raman Singh had enacted the law to ban cow slaughter in the very first year after assuming office in December 2003, he said.

The smuggling of cattle attracts imprisonment up to seven years and a fine of Rs 50,000.
Chhattisgarh was the first state in the country to enforce the law in letter and spirit to ban the slaughter of cows, buffaloes and their progeny, Agrawal said.