Cow smugglers open fire at police in Rajasthan, one arrested

A mini-truck and 13 heads of cattle were seized from the accused.

Alleged cow smugglers opened fire when a police team tried to stop them in Bharatpur, Rajasthan, in the wee hours of Monday.

Rajasthan Police personnel pose with the rescued cows. (HT Photo)

Police said they arrested a suspect, Irsad Mev, under the Rajasthan Bovine Animal (Prohibition of Slaughter and Regulation Temporary Migration or Export) Act-1995, although three of his accomplices managed to escape. A mini-truck and 13 heads of cattle were also seized.

Mev, a resident of Utawad village in Haryana, was allegedly armed with a countrymade gun.

A countrymade gun was seized from the possession of Irsad Mev, a resident of Utawad village. (HT Photo)

Kaithwara station house officer Yogendra Singh said police barricaded the road on a tip-off earlier that night. “The cow-smugglers opened fire at us, forcing us to retaliate. We finally managed to stop the vehicle at Angarawali village,” he said, adding that the animals were being transported from Bandikui in Dausa to Haryana.

The seized truck (RJ 05-GB-1680) was registered at Ghatmika village in Mewat region. Its owner, Abdul Ramham, is absconding.

The state government has set up six police outposts across the district to curb smuggling of cattle to neighbouring Haryana. According to police data, 65 cases were registered against cow smugglers in 2015, a similar number in 2016, and 27 until May 2017.