27 cattle rescued, 1 arrested in daylight encounter in Kashi

Varanasi: A cattle smuggler sustained bullet injuries in an exchange of fire with Ramnagar police near Bandargah (river port) turning before he was arrested, while his two accomplices managed to escape, abandoning a truck loaded with 27 cattle.

Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police(ADCP) Kashi Zone T Sarvanan said that on receiving tip-off on movement of cattle smugglers, Ramnagar police personnel were checking vehicles near Bandargah turning on Saturday.

Around 1pm, a container truck arrived at the barrier police had installed. When they signalled it to stop, three persons jumped off the truck. As police chased the trio, one of them opened fire and when police retaliated, one of them suffered a bullet injury in the leg and fell to the ground, while his two accomplices escaped.

Police arrested the injured smuggler and rushed him to the hospital, where he was identified as Arif of Rampur. He divulged names of his accomplices who had escaped, Shadab and Gulfam, of Rampur district too.

As police searched the container of the truck, 27 cattle were recovered. To hide them, the smugglers had loaded sacks of potatoes over them. The cattle were being smuggled to West Bengal for slaughter. Teams were engaged to search for the absconding smugglers.

Five cattle die, four rescued: A cattle-laden pickup van fell into a canal near Oina culvert under Jalalpur police station in Jaunpur district on early Saturday morning. Cattle smugglers saw police chasing them after they had jumped a checking barrier and sped but the van fell into the canal. Five cattleheads died before police could make arrangements for taking out the pickup van from the canal, while four were rescued. The cattle smugglers escaped. Officials said hunt was on for the van's owner following identification, while a case had been registered under sections of prevention of cow slaughter and cruelty acts.