3 booked under NSA for cow slaughter in MP, first since Congress came to power

bhopal

Updated: Feb 06, 2019 07:21 IST

The National Security Act (NSA) was invoked on Tuesday against three persons accused of cow slaughter, including two brothers in Khandwa district, 271 km south of Bhopal, police said.

“Police got information three days ago that some people were involved in cow slaughter near Moghat. When the police arrived, the accused ran away from the spot, but we found the cow carcass,” SP Siddharth Bahuguna said.

The same day, police arrested Nadeem and Shakeel on Friday; a third person, Azam was arrested on Monday under various sections of Prohibitions of Cow Slaughter Act.

The police said that this is the first incident in Madhya Pradesh where NSA is being invoked against those accused of cow slaughter since December last year when the Congress won the state elections.

The act allows governments to detain people for up to a year if they are suspected to be a threat to public order or national security.

The police have arrested all the three accused and booked them under the NSA “to maintain peace in the communally sensitive area”, said Siddharth Bahuguna, the superintendent of police, Khandwa.

Congress spokesperson J P Dhanopia said: “Chief minister Kamal Nath has issued clear instructions to district and police administration to do whatever they can do to maintain law and order . The government is sensitive towards cow-related issues and such action will be taken in future too.”

BJP spokesperson Rajneesh Agrawal said the Congress government is merely “trying to follow the actions of the previous BJP state government in view of the Lok Sabha elections.”