Jammu's Udhampur town is reeling under tension after three carcasses of stray cows were found from three different locations. The authorities had to snap Internet services for more than two hours to contain the spread of news and control the situation.
Carcasses of three cows were recovered early in the morning, fuelling street protests by people. Protesters also stopped traffic on crucial Jammu-Srinagar highway for more than two hours.
"The cows have been poisoned. We are hopeful that by tomorrow evening concrete details will emerge on whether these are just accidental deaths or deliberate attempt to vitiate the atmosphere," deputy commissioner, Udhampur, Shahid Chaudhry Shahid Iqbal Choudhary told The Hindu.
The district administration snapped Internet in major parts of the Jammu region to contain spread of the unverified news on social networking sites. "We feared that the situation might take ugly turn so decided to snap Internet for a few hours till situation got clear," said Choudhary.
Many political parties, including Bajrang Dal, has called for a Udhampur bandh on Friday.
Two months ago a similar incident in Samba saw violent protests. However, the body turned out to be of an ox and not cow.
Security has been beefed up in Jammu following the incident.
