Truck ferrying bulls for slaughter intercepted on KMP e-way, seven rescued

Seven bulls rescued from illegal slaughter in Gurugram. Three died from brutal treatment during transport. Driver arrested, investigation ongoing.

Gurugram

Police said a team of cow vigilantes associated with a right-wing group alerted them about the smuggling. (Getty Images)

Seven bulls that were being smuggled from Punjab to Nuh, allegedly for illegal slaughter, were rescued from a container truck on the Kundli-Manesar-Palwal Expressway near Kasan in IMT Manesar, police said on Thursday. The bulls were tied brutally, with their jaws and limbs pulled together, due to which three of 10 animals died on the journey, police said.

Police said a team of cow vigilantes associated with a right-wing group alerted them about the smuggling. The truck was intercepted around 5.30am on Wednesday. The truck driver, identified as 35-year-old Hansraj Prasad of Barabanki, Uttar Pradesh, was arrested from the spot.

According to a senior police officer, Prasad said he was handed the keys to the truck in Ludhiana, Punjab, on Tuesday evening and asked to ride up to Nuh. Investigators said that the driver said he did not know that cattle were loaded onto the vehicle.

“He was asked to follow a Mahindra Bolero after crossing the toll plaza on the KMP but was intercepted before. The truck met with an accident on KMP while speeding as one of its tires exploded and it had climbed on the divider. The driver attempted to escape after being chased by cow protection cell members,” the officer, who did not want to be named, said.

“The container was locked when he was handed over the keys for transportation. There is a strong suspicion that the transporter who owns the truck was also involved in the smuggling. We are trying to trace him,” the officer said.

Sandeep Kumar, public relations officer of Gurugram police, said that the driver was taken on a two-day police remand for detailed interrogation. “He might have driven containers to Nuh earlier also,” he said.

On a complaint from Ashok Kumar, a member of the cow protection team, an FIR was registered against the driver under sections of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, the Haryana Gauvansh Sanrakshan and Gausamvardhan Act, and the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita at IMT Manesar police station on Wednesday night.