Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): The people involved in the Seoni cow slaughter incident aimed to incite communal riots in the state, said an official probing the incident on Sunday.
Carcasses of 62 cows were discovered in a river and a forested area in Seoni district, following which police arrested five persons. The state government has handed over the probe to the CID.
ADG (CID) Pankaj Kumar Shrivastava, who is investigating the case, told Free Press that around 62 cows were slaughtered by the accused and were thrown into river. Earlier, it was claimed that 40 cows were slaughtered, he said.
'The main motive of the accused was to disturb the communal harmony in the state and for this they resorted to slaughtering cows,' the ADG said. 'The accused initially wanted to execute the crime in neighbouring Maharashtra, but then they chose Madhya Pradesh, because the cost of cow in MP is 10 times lower than the Maharashtra.'
The accused chose Seoni district because it borders Maharashtra, the officer said, adding that they wanted to spread communal unrest to the adjoining state as well as Madhya Pradesh.
Five people have been arrested, while four accused are on the run, the police have identified them and registered four different cases against the accused, said Shrivastava.
He added that the local police took timely action, arrested the accused, and brought the situation under control. The incident could have taken an ugly turn had the police failed to act promptly.
The police are also looking into the people working behind the crime, the fundraisers and any possible national or international links with anti-national outfit.
