Half a dozen people have been charged under the animal cruelty law.
After a video of a group of men thrashing cows and forcing them to jump in a swollen river in Satna district went viral, the Madhya Pradesh police registered a case against them under the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act.
The incident is from a culvert on the Bihad river between Ghuisa and Bidhui Khurd villages under the Mukundpur police station.
The video shows a group of men herding over a dozen cows into a swamped narrow bridge and brutally hitting them repeatedly with long wooden sticks. The cows can be seen trying to flee, with many jumping into the river. When some of them tried to get on land, one of the men can be seen hitting them again to push them into the river. Several cows were washed away.
Half a dozen people have been charged under the animal cruelty law.
The Vishwa Hindu Parishad condemned the act and demanded strict punishment against the men seen in the video.
The police got to know about the video and verified it, and found that the people involved were from Ghuisa and Bidhui Khurd, Additional Superintendent of Police (ASP) SK Jain said.
After verification, a case was registered against Lal Bhai Patel, Rampal Patel, Sunil Pandey, Lallu Pandey and Ramdayal Pandey among others under the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, he said.