Bihar: Cow shot in Mokama over land dispute

PATNA: In a bizarre incident, a cow was shot dead while another was seriously injured at the private ‘goshala’ (cowshed) of Bhola Singh at Laheriatola under Mokama police station area in Patna rural early Tuesday morning. The injured cow has been admitted to the veterinary hospital at Mokama for treatment.
Two of the cows at the goshala were spotted with bullet injuries around 5am and subsequently taken to the veterinary hospital where one was declared brought dead.While one had been shot in its head, another bore injury in its belly.
Bhola’s wife Parvati Devi has lodged an FIR against Sanjit Singh and his younger brother Shivji Singh and accused them of killing her domestic animal and leaving another seriously injured to settle their personal score with her family. Sanjit and Shivji, the sons of Mannu Singh, are on the run. Bhola and the accused belong neighbouring Sakarbar Tola and have old rivalry over a plot of land, Mokama police station SHO Rajnandan Sharma said.
“This could be one of the reasons behind the incident,” he said, adding that he has come across such an incident for the first time during his two decades in service.
Sharma said the postmortem of the cow was conducted and other legal formalities were completed. The two brothers have been booked under Arms Act and relevant sections of Cruelty to Animal Act. “Raids are on to arrest the accused,” he told this newspaper over phone on Tuesday. Locals said Bhola had criminal antecedents as well.
Meanwhile, the local residents have decided to socially boycott the Mannu Singh’s family. “The rivalry between the two families is an open secret. But targeting the domestic animal for personal reasons is wrong and it shouldn’t happen again in the area,” said Jogi Pandey, a resident of Nawada village under Barh subdivision.
Earlier, eight people were named accused in the killing of a chicken at Firozpur village under Durgawati police station area in Kaimur district recently. One Kamla Devi had lodged an FIR against the accused in this connection.