In a bizarre incident at a village in Uttar Pradesh, farmers locked up a total of 30 stray cattle inside a primary school, resulting in an hour-long delay in starting classes. This was a sign of protest by the farmers as they said that the locked-up animals damaged standing wheat crops. As many as ten people were detained and later released.
The incident took place in Lehrawar village, which falls under the jurisdiction of the Jalalabad police. The farmers, on December 29, tried to stop the police from releasing the cattle from the school. A woman who was protesting against the cattle menace, said, "We just want the stray cattle to be kept out of our village as they are destroying our crops, attacking local residents and disturbing our lives. We cannot feed them and the government should set up a shelter house for them. We want to resolve this issue at the earliest."
The cattle were discovered by school teachers, who were shocked and immediately called the police. The Station House Officer (SHO) of Jalalabad, Kamal Singh, said, "The school was opened after a delay of nearly an hour and most students attended classes thereafter. We have also requested the gram panchayat officials to shift the stray cattle to any nearby cow shelter."
