Seoni (Madhya Pradesh): The police have arrested three persons for their alleged involvement in cow slaughter and seized over 19 kg of beef from their possession in Madhya Pradesh's Seoni district, police said on Saturday.
The accused were caught from the forest of Mahuapani Hathi Ghat, where they were distributing the meat among themselves after killing a calf on Friday night, Seoni's additional superintendent of police (ASP) S K Maravi said.
Four other accused managed to flee from the spot under the cover of darkness and a search is underway for them, he said.
During interrogation, the accused said that they were distributing the beef after slaughtering a calf, which was brought by one of the accused, the official said.
The police recovered 19.70 kg of beef and other body parts of the calf, besides weapons such as axes used for the slaughter, he said.
The trio were booked under provisions of the Madhya Pradesh Cow Slaughter Prohibition Act, Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act and Arms Act, the official said.
Earlier this week, two tribal men identified as Sampat Batti from Sagar village and Dhansa from Simaria were beaten by a group of 15-20 people over suspicion of cow slaughter at Simaria under Kurai police station limits in Seoni district.
Both the victims later died in the hospital.
(With inputs from PTI)
