INDORE: The Khandwa administration has invoked National Security Act (NSA) against three persons accused of cow slaughter — perhaps the first time a Congress government has done so.

The Kamal Nath government is championing the cow cause and has, within the month or so of being in office, launched a state-wide drive to build gaushalas, even mulling imposing a cow cess on luxury cars to fund its plan to build 1,000 cow shelters. According to officials, the trio was charged under NSA on Tuesday after police found one of the accused is a repeat offender.

Police received information three days ago that some people had slaughtered cows near the Moghat area on January 31. “Teams were sent to investigate and they found some people were indeed involved in the act,” Khandwa SP Siddharth Bahuguna said. A cow carcass was seized from the spot. But the accused got wind of police action and escaped but police arrested two suspects — Raju alias Nadeem and Shakeel — from Kharkali village on February 1. The third, Azam, was nabbed on Monday. On Tuesday, police found that Nadeem has a record of involvement in cow slaughter, Bahuguna said.

The trio had earlier been booked under Sections 4, 6, 9 of the Prohibition of Cow Slaughter Act. On the recommendation of the SP, the district collector sanctioned charges under NSA. It allows for detention of suspects for up to a year. The last time NSA was invoked for cow slaughter in MP was under the BJP government in 2016, when former BJP state minority cell vice-president Anwar Mev and nine others were booked under the stringent Act. Mev was later expelled from the party.

Last month, the Yogi Adityanath government in UP had slapped NSA on three persons accused of cow slaughter in Bulandshahr, where violence claimed the life of a police officer.



In Video: Kamal Nath government invokes NSA for cow slaughter