GURGAON, June 13 — If Bihar has earned notoriety for its fodder scam, Haryana is not far behind with a bovine scandal of its own.

According to sources, the Police Department has written to the Animal Husbandry Department of Haryana, alleging that certain government veterinary doctors in the state are issuing fake certificates certifying non-milch cows as belonging to the milch category.

The District Police chief of Gurgaon, Mr Shatruji Kapoor, confirmed that a letter had been written to the Animal Husbandry Department.

According to observers, the case is reminiscent of the Bihar fodder case in which the authorities concerned gave registration number of vehicles used to transport buffaloes and cows as evidence. Some of the registration numbers were later found to be belonging to three-wheelers and two-wheelers.

The issue of fake certificates for non-milch animals had also figured at a high-level meeting of the police chiefs of Gurgaon, Faridabad, Rewari and Mahendergarh, falling in Gurgaon range. The meeting was presided over by the Inspector-General of Police, Gurgaon Range, Mr Ranjeev Dalal. Mr Dalal advocated stern measures against the culprits.

The alleged fake certificates flout the Cow Slaughter Act, which forbids transportation of milch cattle from Haryana. Thousands of cows, including calves and non-milch cows, are being allegedly smuggled out of the state continuously to slaughter houses, especially in Delhi, by a mafia.

Beef from the slaughter houses is exported and the residue is sold for consumption in the local market in Delhi and surrounding areas.

Although the mafia-doctor nexus is active in various parts of the state such cases are concentrated in Gurgaon district on account of a large Meo Muslim population.

The modus operandi of the mafia involve procurement of the certificates, without any date or other mandatory details like registration number of the vehicles on which the milch cows are to be transported from the state and the details of the persons to whom they are issued. This gives the racketeers licence to illegally transport thousands of cows and calves on the same vehicles a number of times.

Significantly, the mafia operating in one district allegedly procure the certificates from another district to esacpe interception by the authorities concerned during transportation.

According to the police authorities, several organisations maintaining ‘gaushalas’ are in collusion with the racketeers.