Four cow smugglers held following encounter in UP’s Bareilly: Cops

Four cow smugglers were arrested after an encounter in which a constable and a cow smuggler were injured in this Uttar Pradesh district, police said on Saturday.

The clash took place in Baheri police station area on Friday, they said, adding that both the injured men were taken to hospital.

Superintendent of Police (Rural) Rajkumar Aggarwal said that after the cow slaughter incidents in Akha and Sakras villages in Baheri, the police arrested four Akha people, and they confessed to their role in the cow slaughter.

Subsequently, accompanied by one of the arrested cow smugglers, Manzoor Ahmed, the police reached Akha on Friday to recover the tools they were using. On the pretext of retrieving tools, which he claimed were buried in a field, the accused pulled out a pistol and fired at the police, leaving Constable Ritu Raj injured in the hand.

Ahmed was shot by the police when he tried to run away and sustained an injury to his leg. The injured constable and the cow smuggler were taken to the Community Health Center (CHC) from where they were referred to the Bareilly Headquarters Hospital.

Police have seized tools used for cow slaughter from Akha, the SP said, adding that the arrested men are being thoroughly interrogated.