Senior BJP leader, 10 others booked for embezzlement of Rs 97 lakh cow shelter funds

Senior BJP leader and former Mayor of Jammu Municipal Corporation, Chander Mohan Gupta, has been booked in a case involving the theft of 37 bovine animals and the alleged misappropriation of approximately Rs 97 lakh from a cow shelter.

An FIR was registered at the Bakshi Nagar police station on the directions of Judicial Magistrate 1st Class (Munsiff), Jammu, Rekha Sharma. The complaint was filed by Rohit Bali, general secretary of the Hare Krishna Gaushala Charitable Trust, which operates the shelter in Top Sher Khania, Shakti Nagar, Jammu.

Gupta, along with nine others—Narender Verma, Manju Verma, Vijay Kumar, Sanjay Kumar, Deepak Singh Rana, Varinder Dogra, Deepak Singla, Rajeev Sambyal, and Rajinder Abrol—has been booked under Sections 316, 318(3), and 325 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), 2023.

According to the complaint, the cow shelter was established in 2017, and Bali personally purchased 25 cows and 24 calves. Before the shelter’s management was taken over by the Deputy Commissioner, Jammu, Bali discovered the animals were missing and alleged that Gupta and others were involved in illegal activities at the shelter.

Following his complaint, an inquiry ordered by the Tehsildar and conducted by the Naib Tehsildar in March 2023 confirmed irregularities. The Chief Animal Husbandry Officer also reported that 37 bovines were missing. Despite approaching the SHO of Bakshi Nagar and SSP Jammu, no FIR was initially registered.

Subsequently, Bali approached the court under Section 175(3) of the BNSS, 2023. The Chief Judicial Magistrate forwarded the matter to the Munsiff Court, which directed police to register an FIR.

The case is now under investigation, led by ASI Ashok Kumar of Bakshi Nagar police station.