Pregnant cow’s jaw blown off by explosive in Himachal, owner blames neighbour; accused arrested

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pregnant cow’s mouth was allegedly blown off by an explosive while it was grazing at a field in the Jhanduta area of Bilaspur district in Himachal Pradesh.

The incident follows the shocking death of a pregnant elephant dying of drowning after collapsing in Velliyar river in Palakkad district of Kerala due to starvation and exhaustion.

A video showing the injuries sustained by the cow has gone viral. In the video, the cow’s owner Gurdial Singh sought help from authorities, demanding strict action against the perpetrator.

Singh goes on to blame his neighbour Nandlal for “intentionally” injuring the cow. He added that Nandlal has run away after the incident.

In the video uploaded by Singh, the pregnant cow could be seen profusely bleeding from the jaw area and it is unlikely that it will be able to eat for the next few days.

While the incident occurred 10 days ago, police in the area have registered a case under the Animal Cruelty Act and investigation is on in the case. On Saturday, police arrested the accused.

Bilaspur Superintendent of Police Dewakar Sharma said Nand Lal was arrested on Saturday from his village Dahad.

Police had visited the crime spot in the village along with a medical team, which examined the cow whose mouth and jaw was found heavily injured, the SP said, adding “the cow was given prompt medical aid”.

The wounds appeared to have been inflicted by some explosive material that people in rural areas use to deter animals from damaging their crops, said Sharma, adding the medical team has collected some samples of the cow’s blood and injured skin near the jaw for further forensic tests.

The SP said the police had registered a case in this regard on May 26 itself in response to cow owner Gurdial Singh’s complaint dated May 25 that “his pregnant cow was grazing in a field at a distance of 20 meters from his house at 8.15 pm when he heard an explosion.

“On reaching the explosion site, he (Singh) found that his cow’s jaw was injured in the explosion,” the SP said separately in a letter, apprising the state police chief of the sensitive incident.

“The cow owner had added in his complaint that he suspected his neighbour Nand Lal being behind the mischief,” the SP wrote to the Himachal DGP.

“Days after the incident, the cow also gave birth to a baby calf,” he wrote to the DGP.

The fresh act of animal cruelty comes days after a pregnant elephant in Kerala’s Palakkad died after it ate a pineapple laced with crackers. The elephant suffered severe injuries to her jaw and was unable to eat anything for days.

The animal’s death sparked a furore across the country

While many reports initially claimed that the elephant was fed the pineapple, Kerala’s top wildlife official Surendra Kumar said it is difficult to believe the claim that the elephant was deliberately fed.

“We already identified some suspects and they are being questioned. There seems to be no evidence to support the claim that somebody deliberately gave a cracker-laden pineapple to the elephant, but the department is considering that a possibility,” Chief Wildlife Warden Surendra Kumar added.

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