New Delhi: The Shamli police in Uttar Pradesh is investigating a one-of-its-kind case — that of an allegedly stolen male buffalo. In an application to the police, a man has sought a DNA test of the buffalo, which he claims to be his own, to settle a dispute over its ownership.
Chandrapal Singh (40), a farmer from Jhinjhana, alleged that his four-year-old buffalo was stolen on 25 August 2020, and that he traced it three months later in a village in Saharanpur district, 40 km away from Shamli. In his complaint to the police, Chandrapal said he found the buffalo in an animal shed that belonged to one Satyaveer Singh in Beenpur village.
Beenpur residents, including the village head and other senior panchayat members, however, claimed the buffalo belonged to Satyaveer, and even submitted a written statement to the police in this regard.
Between November 2020 and February this year, Chandrapal has filed several complaints with the Shamli police, urging it to get his buffalo back or grant him permission to lodge a fresh complaint at another police station. He also filed applications under the Right to Information Act to know the status of the inquiry and accused the police of “misleading him” about it. Copies of his complaints and all his RTI pleas have been accessed by ThePrint.
In his RTI application submitted to Shamli Superintendent of Police (SP) Sukriti Madhav on 4 February, Chandrapal sought to get a DNA test done on the buffalo.
“It is necessary that a DNA test of the buffalo should be conducted to reach a conclusion in the case,” Singh stated in his application.
SP Madhav told ThePrint he has asked Chandrapal to meet him. “We will see if a DNA test can be conducted or not,” he said.
While officials in the animal husbandry department could not say if there has been a precedent for such a test on an animal, they said a DNA test on the buffalo can be done by sending samples to the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology in Hyderabad. They, however, added that the applicant would need to get DNA samples of the parent buffaloes for accurate results.
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The case
Talking to ThePrint, Chandrapal said he had submitted a complaint to the Ahmedgarh Chowki police station in Shamli on 25 August — the day his buffalo was allegedly stolen.
“It was between 3 am and 4 am. When I woke up, it (the buffalo) wasn’t there. I submitted an application to the police on the same day,” he said.
According to his first complaint, a copy of which was seen by ThePrint, Singh searched for the buffalo in at least a dozen villages nearby but couldn’t trace it.
“I was told by the police that they are going to search for the buffalo. But even after a month, I did not hear from the police,” Singh told ThePrint.
Following this, Singh said he started looking for the buffalo on his own and traced it on 5 November in Saharanpur district.
“I started my search in Saharnpaur’s Yamuna Khader region where I spotted my buffalo in Beenpur village. It was tied with another animal in a shed that belonged to one Satyaveer Singh. I then informed the (Ahmedgarh) police,” he said.
On 5 November, a team from the Ahmedgarh Chowki police went to Beenpur village along with Chandrapal for an inquiry, during which the villagers claimed the buffalo belonged to Satyaveer, said the police.
“I went to Beenpur with my force, but not a single person in the village said that the buffalo did not belong to Satyaveer. Residents told the police that they had seen the buffalo (in the village) since its birth,” Sub-inspector Dharmendra Yadav, who led the inquiry, told ThePrint.
The village head along with other senior members of the panchayat even submitted a written statement before the Shamli police on 19 November, stating that the buffalo belonged to Satyaveer.
‘He didn’t file an FIR’
Asked about Chandrapal’s allegation that police misled him about the status of inquiry, Yadav said, “He didn’t not file an FIR. The police asked him many times to file a formal complaint so that an action can be taken.”
SP Madhav told Theprint when the police went to Saharanpur to recover the buffalo, local residents there said the “animal was not stolen, but had belonged to its present custodian for a long time”.
“Chandrapal wants a DNA test to be done on the buffalo so that the ownership can be ascertained. I have asked him to come with all the details so necessary legal action can be taken,” he added.
A senior functionary in the animal husbandry department, meanwhile, told ThePrint: “…the farmer has to now trace the mother and father of the buffalo to get the DNA test right. Since police is also involved, the forensic test is required. They will have to send the samples to the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology, Hyderabad.”
(Edited by Debalina Dey)
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