Alwar: Mob beats up man for allegedly smuggling and slaughtering cows, victim arrested
BJP MLA Gyan Dev Ahuja said that people who smuggle the animals may be killed.
A mob in Rajasthan’s Alwar district beat up a man on Saturday for allegedly smuggling cattle, The Indian Express reported on Sunday. The police arrested the man, identified as Zakir, from Uttawad village in Haryana.
The Ramgarh Police said they intercepted a truck carrying cattle at Yadav Nagar in Alwar around 3.30 am on Saturday. “We had information that cow smugglers were trying to transport bovines to Haryana and had erected barricades in the area,” Ramgarh Station House Officer Ajit Singh said. “A truck was seen approaching the barricades but after seeing us, the vehicle turned around.”
The police officer claimed that people in the truck opened fire at the personnel, who retaliated. “Out of the three men in the truck, two escaped in the dark and one was arrested. We found six bulls and two cows in the truck and two of the animals were dead,” Singh claimed.
He added that a mob had gathered after hearing the gun shots, and later roughed up Zakir. But Singh claimed that Zakir suffered serious injuries because he tried to flee the scene. Zakir was admitted to a hospital and later sent to judicial custody, said the police.
The chief of Alwar’s Meo Panchayat, Sher Mohammad, contradicted Singh, though. “I went to see Zakir in hospital and from his injuries it was obvious that he was severely beaten up before being arrested,” he said. “Why does this happen time and again, when the mob takes the law into its hands?” Mohammad demanded “strong police action” against those who beat up Zakir.
Bharatiya Janata Party MLA warns cow smugglers
Meanwhile, Bharatiya Janata Party MLA Gyan Dev Ahuja said that people who were involved in cow slaughter and smuggling “may be killed”.
“I say clearly that if you indulge in cow smuggling or slaughtering, you may be killed,” he said, according to The Times of India. “Smugglers from other areas pass through Alwar and when they are stopped by villagers, open fire. Why do these smugglers come here? To get beaten and thrashed?”
He, however, told ANI that Zakir was not beaten up by the mob.
