In the wake of the uproar over the death of 250 cows in Durg and Bemetra districts of Chhattisgarh, nine officials of the Agriculture and Animal Husbandry department have been suspended and issued show-cause notices, officials said on Saturday.
The departmental action came after a report on the deaths was submitted by Agriculture Department’s Director S.K. Pandey on Saturday.
It said that gross irregularities were found in the two cow shelters where the deaths occurred, but officials remained unconcerned.
Those suspended are Durg district Deputy Director (Animal Husbandry) Dr M.K. Chawla, Bemetra Deputy Director (Animal Husbandry) Dr A.K. Singh, Dr Satyam Mishra, Bharatesh Sharma, L.S. Sori, Dr M.N. Jha, Dr Pushpraj Khatkar, K.K. Dhruv and L.D. Chandrakar.
After the cattle died at Phoolchand Goshala in Godmarra village in Bemetra district and Mayuri Goshala in Rano village, Agriculture Minister Brijmohan Aggarwal had asked the Department’s Director S.K. Pandey to submit the report on the matter by August 19.
Aggarwal, who is on a visit to Israel, is said to be keeping himself abreast of the situation.