Gurgaon: A head constable was injured as the police team he was part of came under attack after intercepting suspected cattle smugglers in Nuh in the early hours of Sunday.
The head constable has injuries to his head, arms and legs and is admitted to a hospital in the south Haryana district. His condition is stable, Nuh additional SP Kuldeep Singh said.
One of the accused– Akram, of Ghasera in Nuh – was arrested and two others, Mustakim and Nasim, are absconding.
Police said they got a tip-off about the movement of cattle smugglers on the Nuh-Hodal road late on Saturday.
A team from Sadar police station quickly set up a check-post near Ujina village, and soon after, cops spotted a truck coming their way.
But the truck’s driver noticed the police team and stopped a few hundred metres away before abandoning the vehicle and fleeing into the nearby fields.
As the police team went up to the truck, a pickup van with two men inside it stopped behind and tried to run over the cops. They allegedly attacked the head constable. Akram was arrested, but his associate escaped, leaving the van behind.
A police officer said the plan to intercept cattle smugglers was made in haste as cops didn’t have enough time to act.
“Only a handful of police outpost staff were present at the interception point. The assailants tried taking advantage of it by driving away with the cattle truck. But they did not succeed,” the officer said.
The additional SP said doctors were yet to submit a report on the injuries suffered by the head constable. “But we have been informed that he is out of danger,” he added.
According to police sources, the accused were trying to smuggle cattle to Rajasthan via Nuh. Police seized the truck and the pickup van, and rescued 30 cattle from the vehicles. The animals have been sent to a cow shelter in the district.
“No firearms were used in the incident. Our teams are trying to identify and arrest the offenders,” the additional SP said.
A case was registered against the accused under sections 307 (attempt to murder), 332 (voluntarily causing hurt to a public servant in discharge of duties) and 186 (obstructing a public servant in discharge of public functions) of the IPC. They were also booked under the state’s anti-cattle smuggling law, Haryana Gauvansh Sanrakshan and Gausamvardhan Act, which also bars cow slaughter and possession/consumption of beef.
TOI had reported last year that conviction rates under the HGSG Act have been extremely low, even though cow vigilantes have taken it upon themselves to stop cattle smuggling in the state. Last year, 402 cases were filed invoking provisions of the law, but just eight reached the trial stage.
In many cases, producing evidence that cows being transported in vehicles were being taken for slaughter was the biggest challenge.
The head constable has injuries to his head, arms and legs and is admitted to a hospital in the south Haryana district. His condition is stable, Nuh additional SP Kuldeep Singh said.
One of the accused– Akram, of Ghasera in Nuh – was arrested and two others, Mustakim and Nasim, are absconding.
Police said they got a tip-off about the movement of cattle smugglers on the Nuh-Hodal road late on Saturday.
A team from Sadar police station quickly set up a check-post near Ujina village, and soon after, cops spotted a truck coming their way.
But the truck’s driver noticed the police team and stopped a few hundred metres away before abandoning the vehicle and fleeing into the nearby fields.
As the police team went up to the truck, a pickup van with two men inside it stopped behind and tried to run over the cops. They allegedly attacked the head constable. Akram was arrested, but his associate escaped, leaving the van behind.
A police officer said the plan to intercept cattle smugglers was made in haste as cops didn’t have enough time to act.
“Only a handful of police outpost staff were present at the interception point. The assailants tried taking advantage of it by driving away with the cattle truck. But they did not succeed,” the officer said.
The additional SP said doctors were yet to submit a report on the injuries suffered by the head constable. “But we have been informed that he is out of danger,” he added.
According to police sources, the accused were trying to smuggle cattle to Rajasthan via Nuh. Police seized the truck and the pickup van, and rescued 30 cattle from the vehicles. The animals have been sent to a cow shelter in the district.
“No firearms were used in the incident. Our teams are trying to identify and arrest the offenders,” the additional SP said.
A case was registered against the accused under sections 307 (attempt to murder), 332 (voluntarily causing hurt to a public servant in discharge of duties) and 186 (obstructing a public servant in discharge of public functions) of the IPC. They were also booked under the state’s anti-cattle smuggling law, Haryana Gauvansh Sanrakshan and Gausamvardhan Act, which also bars cow slaughter and possession/consumption of beef.
TOI had reported last year that conviction rates under the HGSG Act have been extremely low, even though cow vigilantes have taken it upon themselves to stop cattle smuggling in the state. Last year, 402 cases were filed invoking provisions of the law, but just eight reached the trial stage.
In many cases, producing evidence that cows being transported in vehicles were being taken for slaughter was the biggest challenge.