Dehradun: Uttarakhand Police have arrested three alleged cow smugglers during an encounter in capital Dehradun early Friday morning, a police official said. Two of the smugglers have been injured in the encounter and have been admitted to the hospital.
The encounter between the cow smugglers and the police took place under the Prem Nagar police station limits in the Tea Estate area, SSP Ajay Singh said. Singh said that police had received inputs about three cow smugglers planning to carry out cow slaughter in the area. Based on the information of the informer, the police team under Meethi Berry Tea State Police Station Prem Nagar area set up a checkpoint where a suspicious tempo was intercepted. As police tried to stop the tempo, two people from the vehicle got down and opened fire on the police personnel manning the checkpoint. The police team also retaliated to the fire leading to an encounter.
In the encounter the two smugglers were shot in the leg by the police team and were subsequently arrested by the police along with the driver of the vehicle. The two injured smugglers were later admitted to the nearby hospital for treatment. The two injured smugglers have been identified as Sultan and Faisal, both residents of Bijnor district of Uttar Pradesh. The driver of the tempo, Aslam, is also a resident of Bijnor.
Police said that the three accused had come to the city with the intention of committing cow slaughter and after seeing the checkpoint, they opened fire on the police. Police have launched further investigation into the incident.
SSP Ajay Singh said that the arrested accused were involved in the cow slaughter incident that took place in Meethi Berry Tea Estate on the night of 21 May. Police have recovered (02) 315 bore pistols, cartridges, a chapadar and a knife from the possession of the miscreants.
