Strangely, the cowshed at Bharat Milk Farm situated among a cluster of eight at Meghwadi, is the only one where the phenomenon was witnessed though all 400 animals in the `tabelas' here eat the same fodder supplied by Atul Traders at Danabunder. They also drink from the same pond, the only one in the vicinity, employees of `tabela' say.

The shed owner has not registered a complaint with the police and the authorities have not found sufficient reason to stop the sale of milk from the surrounding sheds. However, as a precautionary measure, most `tabelas' in the vicinity did not sell milk today.

Meghwadi police say one of the carcasses has been sent to the Bombay VeterinaryHospital at Parel for a post-mortem and samples of the fodder have been dispatched to the Food and Drugs Administration (FDA) for chemical analysis. An eerie silence has descended on the cluster of cowsheds, with their respective owners refusing to voice their suspicions. The jinxed shed itself is a picture of desolation, where the remaining 22 cows mill about emitting the occasional moan. Their eyes bloodshot, the buffaloes show no outward signs of distress.

``People say the buffaloes started dropping dead without any sign of distress almost immediately after they were given the fodder on Wednesday morning. We are monitoring the situation but it is difficult to say whether it was food poisoning or some mysterious disease that killed the buffaloes,'' says Sub-Inspector Dattatray Sankhe of the Meghwadi police station.

He says it is also difficult for the police to interrogate the people concerned as the shed owner, Bharat Bapubhai Patel, has refused to lodge a complaint. He confirmed that all 70 buffaloesat the `tabela' are sick. Says a veterinary doctor tending to the animals: ``The first priority is to save the remaining buffaloes. I have been administering saline and other intra-venous medications but not all of them are responding positively to the treatment.''