Tamil Nadu: 5 cattle smugglers from Haryana arrested in Madurai; one cop injured

The gang which was into stealing cattle from Madurai and its suburbs has injured a police sub-Inspector while fleeing a vehicle check before being arrested.

Madurai: Tamil Nadu police have arrested five cattle smugglers from Haryana state who have been selling stolen cows in Dindigul's Oddanchatram market near Madurai, officials said on Monday. Police identified the accused as Nasir (23), Irfan (26), Zubair (33), Shekul (23) and Hagmuddin (42) all from Haryana.

Cop injured- Police said special teams were formed to nab the cattle lifting gangs operating in Madurai and its suburbs and the injured cop was part of the special team. On Jan. 22, the team has put up the iron barricade near Madurai's Kudal Pudur police station and was frisking the vehicles passing through.

A goods vehicle with Rajasthan state registration number which was heading towards the check point did not slow down. When the driver was signaled by the police to stop, the driver sped up the vehicle. The vehicle crashed the barricade and injured the sub-inspector Tavamani fled in the process.

As the managed to flee, Tavamani was admitted to a hospital. The details of the vehicle which fled the scene was shared with all the district teams and were put on high alert to nab the vehicle. Subsequently, the vehicle was traced on Kosakulam-Kulamangalam road and the suspects were arrested.

Arrested were remanded to judicial custody. However, three of the suspects managed to flee. The special team has been tasked to nab the absconding trio as well. "It has been found that youths from Haryana have been stealing cattle at night in Madurai area and take it to Oddanchatram market in Dindigul district where they sell it at throwaway prices," a police official said.