Gurgaon's cow task force says ‘alert us, don’t break law’ in its first meet

GURGAON: Notified in July 2021, the city’s cow protection task force on Friday officially met for the first time, exhorting people to share with the police and the task force members any information they may have on cattle smuggling.
The meeting, held at the mini-secretariat and chaired by the deputy commissioner, follows weeks of scrutiny on activities of gau rakshak groups in south Haryana, especially in the Gurgaon-Nuh-Alwar belt, after the deaths of three men since January.
The families of Nuh resident Waris Khan (21), who died after an alleged accident on January 28, and of Rajasthan residents Nasir (25) and Junaid (39), whose burnt bodies were found in an SUV in Bhiwani, have accused vigilantes of murder. Both cases remain under investigation.
In July 2021, the state government notified a cow protection task force with 11 members both at the state and district levels to prevent cow smuggling and slaughter of cows, rehabilitate stray cattle, and take legal action against cattle smugglers. Haryana passed the Gauvansh Sanrakshan and Gausamvardhan Act in 2015 and the task force’s job is to implement the law’s provisions.
Friday’s meeting was also attended by members of the Gau Seva Aayog and representatives of gaushalas.
Deputy commissioner Nishant Yadav said, “We urge people to alert police or the task force if they get any information about illegal transportation and smuggling of cows and not take the law into their own hands.”
Puran Yadav, vice-chairman of the Gau Seva Aayog, said incidents where people take the law in hands bring a bad name to the state. “Only police and administration are authorised to take action against cow smuggling and slaughtering. People can help the cause by passing information to the task force or police if they get to know about cow smuggling,” said Yadav.
The deputy commissioner said stray cattle would be rehabilitated and a unique 12-digit tag would be assigned to each for tracking.
The task force will also have a mandate to provide land for gaushalas and funds for fodders and other facilities. Every month, the district task force will submit a report to the Gau Seva Aayog.
The deputy commissioner is the chairperson of the task force. Its other official members are a DCP, the municipal commissioner, CEO of the Zila Parishad, the district attorney and deputy director of the animal husbandry department. Three non-official members can be nominated by the chairperson of the Gau Seva Aayog. Two others, according to the notification, can be picked from gau rakshak committees or from among renowned gau sevaks, a provision that has drawn scrutiny after the controversies around the activities of vigilante groups.