Three ‘cow smugglers’ arrested after 25km chase by vigilantes, police

Three suspected cow smugglers were arrested from Palwal in the early hours of Wednesday after a 25km-long chase that began from Sector 37 in Gurugram

Three suspected cow smugglers were arrested from Palwal in the early hours of Wednesday after a 25km-long chase that began from Sector 37 in Gurugram. The suspects pushed off four cows from their moving vehicle in an attempt to block the movement of the vehicles chasing them, police said.

The suspects pushed off four cows from their moving vehicle in an attempt to block the movement of the vehicles chasing them, police said. (Representative Image/AFP)

The suspects were identified as Mohammad Salim, Mohammad Saad and Mohammad Mahboob, all residents of Nuh. Three more suspects managed to escape in the dark, police said.

The suspects had loaded four stray cows from Sector 37 and Sector 56, police said. They fled towards Mewat when a team of cow vigilantes in two SUVs and police officers started chasing them on Sohna Road, where they had erected a barricade, which the suspects rammed into while attempting to escape.

The suspects opened fire on the vehicles of the cow vigilantes, police said. They had stored stones and glass balls in their van, which they threw at the cow vigilantes, police said.

Monu Manesar, one of the vigilantes, said two of his colleagues, Ranveer Thakran (35) and Paramjeet Thakran (34), sustained head injuries from stones thrown by the suspects.

Sub-inspector Mukesh Kumar, additional station house officer of Bhondsi police station, said they were brought back to Gurugram but the FIR was registered at Hathin police station in Palwal.