Who’s the owner?

A DNA test has emerged the most suitable option to determine the ownership of a buffalo over which two farmers have locked horns.

Doesn’t matter that DNA fingerprinting will cost more than double the price of the animal — around Rs 4,000 — because the only alternative was accepting the decision of village elders, who would order a wine-and-dine party to penalise the offender.

The bill for hosting the do would be much higher than the Rs 10,000 it will take K. Chandraiah and Mallikarjun to get the test done.

Chandraiah, of Kothur village in Nellore district, apparently bought Bheema recently from a village mart. Mallikarjun, of neighbouring Biradavada, said it was his Rama, born in his farm.

Rama had gone missing recently. Seeing an animal at a local festival, Mallikarjun identified it as his and picked a fight with Chandraiah, who claimed it was the Mahabharata hero, not Ramayana.

The row came to a head last week as the two exchanged blows bringing police into the picture.

The village elders sought police help to determine the ownership and held that the guilty should be sentenced with hosting a party for both villages.

The villagers and the police had several meetings, but failed to arrive at a decision acceptable to Mallikarjun and Chandraiah.

Finally, the police directed them to approach the animal husbandry department.

The department inspected the buffalo and its alleged parents, but their physical features could not provide any conclusive evidence. The only option left was the DNA test.

M. Kamalakara Rao, a sub-inspector of Naidupeta police station, said the DNA test was the cheaper alternative.

“Had we heeded the elders, we would have had to provide meat and liquor to hundreds of villagers as fine, which would have cost over Rs 15,000,” said Mallikarjun.

The technology, now frequently used by police to clinch rape and bigamy cases, would probably be applied for the first time on buffaloes. The date for the test has yet to be finalised, but the villagers and the police are excited as they expect it to become a milestone in livestock management.

Andhra Pradesh, which shares borders with five states — Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh and Orissa — records a large number of cattle thefts.

Lalji Singh, a molecular biologist of the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology, Hyderabad, first introduced DNA fingerprinting in India.

An independent institution — the Centre for DNA Fingerprinting and Diagnostics — was formed later to conduct the test.

Till now it has given conclusive evidences in various critical cases including Rajiv Gandhi’s assasination, rape case against J&K Jawans and thousands of paternity cases from Kerala, Tamil Nadu, etc.

The Centre for DNA Fingerprinting and Diagnostics has trained hundreds of chemistry and zoology students and prepared DNA diagnositc kits for ready use in its campaign to take the technology to the villages.

The animal husbandry department can now handle such tests and it can be conducted in several hospitals across Andhra Pradesh, a spokesman for the DNA fingerprinting centre said.