Rahul Narwekar, the speaker of the Maharashtra Assembly, said on Tuesday that he had instructed the state police to keep a close eye on the region and seal all borders to prevent the transfer of cattle from surrounding states and any attacks on gau rakshaks (cow vigilantes). The speaker added that he had requested that teams be formed by the police to patrol and visit sensitive places.
Narwekar said he had a meeting with the additional director general of police (law and order) and Nanded's superintendent of police over the fear among institutions and NGOs that there could be mass gau-vansh hatya (bovine killing) during the upcoming period of Bakr-Eid.
So, precautionary measures should be taken also with regards to the violence that had erupted in Nanded and other places, he said. We have asked them (police) to maintain strict vigilance and set up squads to visit and patrol sensitive areas, seal the borders to not allow any flow of cattle between states and also to ensure there is no attack on these gau-rakshaks, the said.
Notably, a 32-year-old man was lynched allegedly a group of cow vigilantes on suspicion of transporting beef in Maharashtra's Nashik district on Saturday. This was the second incident in Nashik in nearly two weeks of killing of a person by cow vigilantes.
Narwekar said the state is doing its bit to control everything and this is not happening for the first time. It has been happening and we want to ensure this time it is controlled totally. It was a pre-emptive meeting, precautionary meeting that was taken, he said.