New Delhi: No riots or incidents of mob lynching have taken place in Uttar Pradesh in the last two and a half years because of the crackdown on illegal slaughterhouses, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has said.

Adityanath made the claim during an interview to News18 Network Editor in Chief Rahul Joshi. Asked whether incidents of mob lynching or riot-like situations have affected investments in the state, the CM said, “No, it used to happen, it doesn't happen now. In 2.5 years, there has been no riot. Secondly, there has been no incident of mob lynching in UP because we removed elements that incite riots in the first stage. We stopped illegal slaughtering at an early stage.”

In line with BJP’s 2017 assembly election manifesto, Adityanath had ordered officials to crack down on illegal slaughterhouses in the state and imposed a blanket ban on smuggling of cows.

The Uttar Pradesh CM added that his government was also working on the menace of stray cattle which had turned into an election issue during the recent Lok Sabha polls.

“We have started a campaign on stray cattle. It will be successful. As of now, there are roughly 3.5 lakh stray cattle in the state. We have come up with a scheme which says that if anybody wants to keep a stray cow in their house, we will pay them Rs 900 per month on the condition that they take care of the cow. The person will also need to take the cow to a veterinarian every month where she is checked and examined. We will pay them for all of this,” Adityanath said.

Asked about families abandoning the cows once they stopping milk, Adityanath acknowledged that it was a problem.

“There are two sides to this argument. One is the financial condition of the common people. Second, for the common man, a cow that provides 100-200 millilitres of milk is not viable. To address this issue, we have started a new practice. We are trying to make sure that the cows are of a superior origin,” he said.