Five arrested for causing violence in name of cow slaughter in Greater Noida

The incident occurred at around 9 pm when carcasses of dead cattle were being transported in a trolley attached to a mini jeep.

Police arrested five persons, including a woman, on Friday night for allegedly assaulting a man and disrupting traffic while spreading fake news about cow slaughter, near Gaur City crossing.

Police said that a crowd had gathered at the spot and people were saying that the animals had been slaughtered. The arrested suspects were leading the mob into believing this and they assaulted the driver, broke the windows of the vehicle and overturned it (HT FILE)

The incident occurred at around 9 pm when carcasses of dead cattle were being transported in a trolley attached to a mini jeep. The car belonged to a contractor of Ghaziabad Nagar Nigam and the dead animals (three cows, two calves and 12 buffalo calves) were being taken to a disposal plant in Chhajarsi village.

“We got a call on the police helpline at around 9.10 pm that some people were creating ruckus over a case of alleged cow slaughter. A team was dispatched to the spot immediately,” said Manoj Kumar Pathak, station house officer, Bisrakh police station.

Police said that a crowd had gathered at the spot and people were saying that the animals had been slaughtered. The arrested suspects were leading the mob into believing this and they assaulted the driver, broke the windows of the vehicle and overturned it, said police.

While one of the cows was traced to an a resident of Ghaziabad, the other was traced to a Delhi-based lawyer. “They both informed us that they had asked the contractor to take dispose the dead animals. All this information was shared with the crowd that had gathered, but they were still creating nuisance and spreading rumours, after which five of the suspects were taken into custody,” said the SHO.

Police said that the vehicle was removed and traffic restored.

The five suspects, along with 30-40 unidentified people, were booked under sections of the IPC, including 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 341 (wrongful restraint), among others, along with relevant sections of the Criminal law Amendment Act.

The FIR also mentions that the crowd was unruly and was chanting religious slogans and created a sense of fear and public disorder. “The crowd also misbehaved with police and it took a while to bring back the situation under control. The contractor was called to the spot and the cattle was handed over to him,” said the FIR.

Police is now trying to trace the other culprits. “There was a huge crowd that had created the ruckus. We are looking at CCTV footage in the area and the others will also be nabbed soon,” said the SHO.

The arrested accused were produced before a magistrate and later sent to jail.