Gurgaon: Four suspected cow smugglers were arrested in Manesar on Monday after one of them allegedly fired at a group of gau rakshaks chasing them in a vehicle.
Police said a van carrying a cow was on its way to Rajasthan via Tauru when Mohit, a gau rakshak, and a few others gave them a chase in a Bolero. Mohit alleged that when the two vehicles came close to each other, one of the suspected smugglers fired at him. The bullet, however, hit the vehicle, he claimed.
The truck carrying the animal then hit a boulder and had to screech to a halt in Kasan village. The gau rakshaks overpowered the four men and handed them over to a police team that had arrived there. Mohit said he had tipped them off. In 2019, too, Mohit had allegedly been fired at by a group of cattle smugglers.
The four persons who were arrested have been identified as Naseer, Rafiq, Zakir and Irshad, all residents of Nuh. An FIR was registered against them under sections 307 (attempt to murder) and 34 (common intention) of the IPC and relevant provisions of the Arms Act.
The police have seized the vehicle and recovered an illegal gun, two live cartridges and one empty shell from the accused. “They will be produced before a court. We are still investigating the matter,” said a police officer.
In 2021, the government had announced that gau rakshaks were part of the cow protection task force that had been formed to prevent cattle smuggling and slaughter. In January this year, 13 cows were killed and nine others were injured after a truck being chased by a group of gau rakshaks overturned.