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State sees drop in beef cases, CP credits Muslim community

Until now, the DFS was busy investigating cases related to cow slaughter and beef ban, receiving over 200 cases yearly for three years till 2016

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The cases dropped to 73 in 2017
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This year, Gujarat has witnessed a sharp drop in the number of beef cases that have reached the Directorate of Forensic Science (DFS) since 2012. While forensic experts believe the recent stringent law has played a role in reducing number of cases, Ahmedabad police commissioner feels that it is the community's cooperation that has caused an impact.

Until now, the DFS was busy investigating cases related to cow slaughter and beef ban, receiving over 200 cases yearly for three years till 2016. In 2017, though, the figure plunged to 73.

HP Sanghvi, deputy director, Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL), Gandhinagar, said, "Due to the law, the cases that are sent by cops to FSL have drastically gone down. Unlike earlier times, we now receive only 1-2 calls in a month. This year, only 73 cases have come to us as against 205 from the year before."

As per the data shared by DFS, of the 128 and 220 cases in 2013 and 2014, respectively, 112 and 200 tested positive, as against 77 of 204 in 2015.

DFS has four cow-meat testing vans in the state. After cops intercept a vehicle suspected to be carrying beef, they reach the spot for testing. It takes around half an hour to test the meat and furnish the report. Sometimes, though, depending on how the meat is extracted, investigation takes time.

'Credit goes to community'

Ahmedabad Commissioner of Police AK Singh said, "It is not just the law. A huge factor contributing to the reduced number of cases is the understanding that has evolved in the community itself, particularly the Muslim community, as they have come out openly against cow slaughter. During Bakri Eid, all mosques and religious leaders issued a directive saying that under no circumstances should anyone from the community be involved in cow slaughter. And this is a big reason why we are not getting too many cases."

He continued: "We do get cases of meat that is illegally transported but most of it was buffalo meat. There were quite a few of such cases intercepted by the police but these were away from the city. So we enforced the laws strictly, uncovered involvement of certain gangs and took preventive action. The organised illegal slaughter of buffalo has also seen a drop."

The top cop said better understanding of and more sensitivity towards the issue brought down the case.

Talking about the gangs, he said: "It is not just in Ahmedabad that we found such gangs. We are aware of four such sites from where multiple cases originated, but we have dealt with them." He added: "In Ahmedabad, we have more than 100 check-posts for anti-terror purpose and prevent any kind of illegally slaughtered meat."

The law

The Gujarat Animal Preservation (Amendment) Act, 2017, which encompasses slaughter of cow, calves, bulls and bullocks, penalises breaches with life imprisonment and a fine of up to Rs 5 lakh. It bans transportation of animals from one place to another at night. And prescribes imprisonment of up to 10 years, but not less then seven years, for those found to be involved in transportation, sale and storage of beef. Earlier, the maximum punishment was three years.

Year Cases with DFS

2012 112
2013 128
2014 215
2015 205
2016 205
2017 73
Total 938

Beef inspection: Test result

Year               No. of cases                      Tested positive
2013               128                                          112
2014               220                                          200
2015               204                                          77
Total               552                                          389

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