Cops gun down ‘cow smuggler’ Incidents of lynching and vigilantism put Alwar back in focus

ALL IN A NIGHT Truck carrying five cows was intercepted by a police patrol early Thursday

ALWAR(RAJASTHAN): A suspected cow smuggler was killed by police in Rajasthan’s Alwar district in the early hours of Thursday, the latest incident to rock the state hit by intermittent violence over the campaign to protect bovines.

Police said the alleged smuggler, later identified as Taleem from Nuh district of Haryana, was killed in an exchange of gunfire with a police team while trying to flee with several stray cows in a pick-up truck.

Rahul Prakash, the Alwar superintendent of police, said they had set up barricades at several places after receiving information that a group of men was trying to smuggle cows. The men fired at police at two barricades before they were halted at a third barricade in Janta Colony where the exchange of gunfire took place.

Prakash said several of the men ran away after the truck in which they were travelling was forced to halt after a bullet blew one of its tyres. They left behind an injured man who later died. The truck was carrying five cows, one of which was dead.

Alwar police admitted to firing seven rounds at the truck

early on Thursday but could not specify how many rounds were fired by the suspected smugglers.

Taleem’s uncle Mohammed Ilyas said his 24-year-old nephew was at home till around 8pm on Wednesday. “He left after that without telling us,” Ilyas told HT on phone.

Alwar has been the epicentre of violence triggered by cow vigilantism. In April, a Muslim

trader Pehlu Khan transporting cattle to his farm was waylaid by vigilantes and assaulted. Khan died a few days later.

Last month, a group of men transporting cows was attacked in the district’s Govindgarh area, resulting in the death of one Umar Mohammed.

Cow protection features prominently in the agenda of the Rajasthan government with a cow welfare department headed by a minister. Alwar is also one of the two districts – Bharatpur being the other – where police patrol the streets regularly to combat cow smuggling.

The police said no documents pertaining to transportation of cattle were found from the truck or the victim. At the same time, the police added that no one had come forward to claim ownership of the cows being transported. The bovines have been sent to a local cow shelter.

Rajasthan DGP, OP Galhotra, said, “They (the alleged smugglers) used to collect cattle left in the open at night and this was going on for many days. Police was monitoring it and had increased patrolling to nab them.”

However, Ramzan Chaudhary, president of the All India Mewati Samaj, questioned the “encounter”. “Even if they were smuggling cows, there is a law to punish them. This justice meted out on the roads is wrong,” he said.

Taleem relatives, who arrived in Alwar during the day, returned to their village after the administration refused to hand over the body. The post mortem will take place on Friday. However, Taleem’s relatives said they will not return to take the body. JAIPUR: Alwar has emerged as the epicentre of cow-related crimes, with activists saying cow vigilantism has risen in tandem with the ascent of the BJP government at the Centre and the state.

While cow smuggling is not new, activism by cow protection groups and cow vigilantes is.

The lynching of Pehlu Khan and the killing of Umar Mohammed are still fresh in minds of the people.

Activists say cow vigilante groups have become active after the BJP government came to power at the Centre.

A number of groups such as the Gau Raksha Dal, Rashtriya Mahila Gau Raksha Dal and Bajrang Dal have been involved in incidents of violence, they say.

According to police, in 2017, a total of 389 cases were registered under the Rajasthan Bovine Animal (Prohibition of Slaughter and Regulation of Temporary Migration or Export) Act, 1995. Of these, 259 were chargesheeted while 24 cases were closed and 76 still pending.

In 2015, 543 cases were registered while in 2016 the number dropped to 474.

Noor Mohammed, an Alwarbased social activist, says cow protection groups do not really care for cows but for money. “It’s a business. They want money,” he says. “If you pay them, they will let you go else they will report you to the police for cow smuggling.”

Babulal Jangid, national vice president of the Gau Raksha Dal, says cow smugglers from Alwar district and neighbouring Bharatpur transport cows to slaughterhouses in Haryana.

“Vehicles smuggling cows have to go through either Alwar or Bharatpur to reach Haryana,” he added .

Incidents of violence have been reported from Alwar as there are Hindu-dominated villages near the Alwar-haryana border that object and oppose cow smuggling.

In Bharatpur, villages near the border are dominated by Muslim Meos, so there is no opposition, activists say.

Jangid says the cows are smuggled every day and in dismal conditions.

But the larger issue is connected to the socio-economic condition of the Muslims.

A study on Meo-muslims by the Save the Children in 2011, pointed out that they are the most marginalised in the state.