In a major cattle rescue operation, Jharkhand Police rescued around 200 cattle in Garhwa on Thursday (4th September) on the tip-off received from the members of Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) and Bajrang Dal. The cattle were rescued in the wee hours of Thursday and were kept in the police station compound, as the police could not find a place immediately. Later on, the police found a cow shelter about 55 km away in Palamu, where the cattle were shifted on Friday night (5th September).
As per reports, the cattle were being smuggled from Uttar Pradesh to Jharkhand in a container truck. Some members of the VHP and Bajrang Dal received the information about this and alerted the police. Cattle smugglers reportedly transport the cattle in large container trucks from Uttar Pradesh to Nawada village in the Garhwa district in Jharkhand. In Nawada village, the cattle are deboarded from the container and sent out of the district through a side route along the railway line. The VHP and Bajrang Dal members caught the cattle in the village when they were being taken out of the district via the side route.
Cattle smugglers attacked the Gaurakshaks and the police
According to the members of the VHP and the Bajrang Dal, three people riding a motorbike confronted them in the village as they were taking the cattle from the village to the Garhwa police station after rescuing them. The police arrived just in time and nabbed two out of the three people, as claimed by some reports. But, Garhwa SP Garhwa Aman Kumar, as quoted by The Indian Express, said that no evidence of cattle smuggling was found and no arrests were made in the case. The SP reportedly said that the police were verifying the claims of cattle smuggling. He added that there is a traditional animal market in the area, for which hundreds of animals are transported for trading. “Around 170 cattle were brought here as part of the weekly market. This is a traditional animal market. Some members of the Bajrang Dal and the Vishwa Hindu Parishad alleged that the animals were being taken for slaughter, but we have not found any such evidence so far,” said the Garhwa SP.
“Traders usually bring cattle from nearby areas, including the UP border, and sell them here. Buying and selling of cattle is not prohibited under law unless there is proof that the animals are being taken specifically for slaughter. So far, no such proof has come up,” he said.
Cattle were injured and could not stand: Bajrang Dal member
However, the District Head of Bajrang Dal, Sonu Singh, said that the cattle were being taken for slaughtering. “The cattle were being smuggled in small groups, even pushed on foot, from Uttar Pradesh and Chhattisgarh. Around 250 animals were rescued. The smugglers were using darkness to escape, but three people were caught,” Singh was quoted as saying by the Indian Express. He said that the cattle smugglers tried to attack the police and the Gaurakshaks. “Three men were caught as they came to attack from behind. Many others managed to escape due to a lack of adequate police force at the station. Imagine a district headquarters police station had only six personnel on duty during such a big incident,” he added.
According to Singh, the cattle rescued were in a “deplorable condition” as many of them were severly injured and were unable to stand. He said that the animals were stuffed inside the container truck in numbers exceeding the truck’s capacity. “As many as 17-20 animals were stuffed into trucks that could carry only a dozen. It was inhuman,” said Singh. Bajrang Dal workers reportedly arranged fodder and water for the rescued cattle.
Singh alleged that some big names were involved in the smuggling of cattle. He said that there was pressure on the police not to register the FIR and instead frame the cow protectors. “There is pressure not to register FIRs, to release the cattle, and even to file fake cases against those who protect cows. But we will take this fight to the High Court and demand a CBI inquiry,” Singh said.