The cattle wealth in the State is facing a major threat after instances of their trafficking coming to light from Dhamtari district.
The police arrested six persons following a tip off while they were trying to smuggle out cattle from the State to neighbouring Odisha to be sold out to butchers, the other day in two separate cases.
The police was forced to act against them after some socially aware citizens opposed to cattle smuggling gave proper input to the police to act against them, reminding them (police) that cattle trafficking is a crime in the State.
A State law promulgated way back in 2004 banned transportation of cows without prior permission from a veterinarian.
Those who violate the law are liable to face at least three years of imprisonment and fine of Rs10,000. But still the illegal activities had continued and the Government subsequently amended the Act to provide it more teeth for protecting the cattle, but to no avail.
As per the amended law in 2011, the Government had increased the three years imprisonment to seven years and the fine to Rs50,000 from Rs10,000.
The cow trafficking from the State, those in know say, has risen in the past after the police laxity in the implementation of the State law that prevents illegal transportation of cows from the State.
However, activists such as Panna Singh and Ujjawal Kumar among others dared to oppose cattle smuggling from the State. They also feel that the police should also evince some interest so that the crime against cow trafficking could be stopped.
According to some independent reports, the root cause of cow trafficking was the sudden shrinking of grazing fields.Similarly, people also sell out old and sick animals and in certain cases they would also abandon such cows and the traffickers often take advantage of the situation.
The cow, according to Hindu religion is a holy animal and hence, butchering it or ill-treating it is a cause of major concern for the members of Hindu community.
The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government in Chhattisgarh is also principally opposed to killing of cows and it enacted laws to protect them.