Farmers lock stray cattle in school in UP village

Aurraiya (Uttar Pradesh), Jan 3 (IANS) A group of farmers in the Turkipur village in Aurraiya district staged a protest against the menace of stray cattle after driving them into a government school and locking them there.

The incident took place on Sunday and farmers alleged that their crops were damaged by stray cattle.

Some pictures of the incident went viral on social media, showing that more than 50 cattle were herded by the farmers into a school in Turkipur.

Later, the farmers staged a protest shouting slogans against the authorities and alleged that the authorities concerned have done nothing to curtail the growing menace of stray cattle.

They said that the state government should take some concrete steps to resolve this problem.

"The local authorities have made no arrangements for stray cattle due to which the animals damage our crops," they alleged.

Senior district officials, including Sub-Divisional Magistrate (SDM) Sadar Manoj Kumar Singh, said that the cattle have been freed from the school and will be sent to the temporary cowshed located in Umri village.

A similar incident had taken place in Shahjahanpur last week and 10 persons were arrested and later released when they locked up a large herd of stray cattle inside a primary school after the animals damaged standing wheat crop.

The incident had taken place in the Lehrawar village, which falls under the jurisdiction of the Jalalabad police circle.

The cattle were discovered by school teachers who called the police.