Mewat police rescues 14 cows, 11 calves from canter

Four persons, including the canter driver, managed to flee, according to the police

The crime branch of Mewat police said it rescued 14 cows and 11 calves, in the early hours of Sunday, from a canter that the police claimed was carrying the animals to Rajasthan for slaughter.

Police said the cattle were being taken for slaughter to Rajasthan.

However, four persons, including the canter driver, managed to flee, the crime branch said.

Police said that acting on a tip-off, they had formed a team of four and barricaded the Mahun Chowk around 3am on Sunday. On seeing the barricades, the driver sped up the vehicle, but the police personnel had surrounded them by then. While the police stopped the canter and rescued the cattle, the four men — identified as Imran, Rahul, Zuber and Gaudhala — fled in different directions and managed to escape, the police said.

The in-charge of Mewat crime investigation agency (CIA), inspector Ratan Lal, said the police had received information that four persons had smuggled the animals and were taking them to Rajasthan for slaughtering.

“When we stopped the canter and were rescuing the cattle, the men took advantage of the crowd and the traffic at the barricade and fled. We seized the canter and have sent the 14 cows and 11 calves to the Mewat gaushala,” Ratan Lal said.

He said that the police has a lot of information about the four men involved and will arrest them soon.

A case under the Haryana Gauvansh Sanrakshan and Gausamvardhan Act, 2015, has been registered against all four. The act invites imprisonment of up to 10 years for cow slaughter.

There have been instances in the past when cattle was rescued either in Mewat or nearby districts. In January alone, 25 cows being taken towards Mewat were rescued at Rewari from alleged slaughter. On August 29, Gurgaon police claimed to have seized around 300 cattle hides near Sohna from a canter travelling towards Mewat from Gurgaon. On August 3, Mewat police had recovered 17 cow hides from a house at Baded village under Punhana police station.

Mewat has also seen cases of cow vigilantism. In September last year, a case of gang-rape was reported from Mewat where a woman was allegedly raped for eating beef. Earlier, government officials had also collected samples from biryani sellers in the district to check for the presence of beef in the dish.