17 cow hides recovered from a house in Mewat

The police booked the house owner under Haryana cow protection act but the accused escaped before the police team raided the premises.

Recovery of cow hides from a house in a Mewat village has led to unease in the area. The police booked the house owner under Haryana cow protection act but the accused escaped before the police team raided the premises.

Recovery of cow hides from a house in a Mewat village has led to unease in the area. (Picture for representation purpose only/ Arun Sharma)

Inspector of Punhana police station in Mewat, Ashok Kumar said on Thursday that there was information that a person was involved in cow slaughter and kept cow hide in his house. He said a team raided the house of one Akhtar at Baded village on Wednesday.

“We seized 17 cow hides from the house but the accused escaped before the police team reached the spot” said Kumar. He said the accused has been booked under Haryana Gauvansh Sanrakshan and Gau Samvardhan Act 2015. Kumar said Akhtar collected hides from some place near Rajasthan border and sold them further.

Read: ‘Gau rakshaks’ in Gurgaon hold Muslim migrants to ransom over beef

Some villagers protested following recovery of cow hides. They were placated after the police assured of action against the accused.

“Mewat is hub of illegal beef trade. There are a number of slaughter houses in the area and beef is smuggled from there to Delhi and UP through various routes in Faridabad and Palwal” said Chief patron of Gau Raksha Dal Gurgaon, Kuldeep Janghu.

Read: Gangs of Mewat: Govt indifference, neglect bigger realities than crime

In March this year, Haryana government passed Haryana Gauvansh Sanrakshan and Gausamvardhan Act 2015 making cow slaughter punishable with rigorous imprisonment up to 10 years and a fine of Rs 1 lakh. The act defines ‘cow’ including bull, bullock, ox, heifer, calf. ‘Beef’ is defined as the flesh of the ‘cow’ in any form.

On July 3, the state police issued a helpline number +91-8284030455 to report slaughter or smuggling of cows.

Deputy Inspector General of police (welfare and training) Bharti Arora, nodal officer for police cell to check cow smuggling and smuggling of beef, said next week a meeting with all district superintendents would be held to strengthen coordination of the cell.