Chennai: Tamil Nadu agriculture department officials who were beaten up by cow vigilantes in Rajasthan are now on their way back home, with police escort and have crossed Rajasthan into Gujarat. The Tamil Nadu government took up the issue with Rajasthan government, which has promised security to the agriculture department officials who were in that state to procure native breed of cows to improve milch cattle here. Now on their way home, the TN team and cows are expected to reach the state on Sunday.

A senior official of the Agriculture department said “the officials are now in Gujarat. They will be leaving Ahmedabad. The Rajasthan police escorted them till they crossed the state borders to Gujarat. From the Gujarat borders, the Gujarat police are providing the security.”

Tamil Nadu has formally requested the police of Rajasthan, Gujarat, Maharashtra and Karnataka to provide protection to the officials and the five trucks that were carrying the cows that they bought for breeding purposes in Tamil Nadu.

The TN team was attacked by cow vigilantes in Barmer in Rajasthan last Sunday on suspicion that they were engaged in smuggling of cows for slaughter. The attackers did not relent even after being shown official identification and valid documents of sale of cattle and beat up the officials and confiscated the animals. These animals were bought in Rajasthan to procure cows under a central government scheme of breeding native breeds.

The TN officials bought 50 cows and were bringing them back to state when they were attacked.

The cows can be transported only at night so that they are not affected by the sun’s heat in the day time.