3 held for smuggling cattle in Greater Noida

Greater Noida: Three men were nabbed by the Greater Noida police for allegedly transporting cattle for sale illegally via the Eastern Peripheral Expressway. Police recovered 37 buffaloes from them.

Police officials said the animals were intercepted following inputs from a Haryana-based animal lover.

“Based on the inputs, the vehicle was stopped with the help of a PRV on a stretch of the expressway opposite Atai Muradpur village and three men were apprehended,” said Rameshwar Kumar, station house officer, Ecotech 1 police station.

The smugglers were identified as Waseem and Ruddar, natives of Ajmer and Bharatpur in Rajasthan and Mohammad Murtza, a native of Jammu and Kashmir.

Police found 36 female and one male buffalo cramped in the bed of the truck in which the suspects were moving. The animals were rescued and the vehicle was seized.

The SHO said the animals were being brought from Haryana for sale in the district.

Police personnel said the suspects claimed the animals were theirs but they did not have valid documents.

“The three seemed to be working alone but we will be on the lookout for any other people involved with them. They don’t have any prior criminal history,” said Kumar.

They were booked under relevant sections of the prevention of cruelty to animals act at the Ecotech 1 police station. The men were produced before a magistrate and later sent to jail

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