Five cattle smugglers arrested, 250kg meat seized

LUCKNOW: In a major breakthrough, cops busted a gang of cattle smugglers, arrested five people and seized around 250 kg meat from Buniyadbagh Maidan under the Saadatganj police station area in the wee hours of Monday.

The police also recovered a four-wheeler used for transporting meat, a scooty, weighing machine, three knives and three sharp-edged weapons used for chopping animal flesh.

Those arrested were identified as Azim, 27, Aamin, 25, Akbar, 22, Sayed Mehandi Abbas, 37, and Mohammad Hasan, 35 – all residents of Lucknow. One Mohsin was absconding.

The gang allegedly used to target stray cows on the highways and skin them at remote locations.

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The gang used to skin cattle at remote locations on the city’s outskirts and ferry meat in a fourwheeler. They sold it in Lucknow for ₹80 to ₹110 per kg

NEERAJ OJHA, station officer, Saadatganj police station.

They sold cattle flesh for ₹80 to ₹110 per kg in the state capital, claimed cops.

The Saadatganj police had got information about the alleged sale of cow flesh in the area and had been tracking this gang’s movement for the past one week.

At around 2am on Monday, station officer, Saadatganj, Neeraj Ojha, got information about the presence of cattle smugglers in Buniyadbagh Maidan.

The cops cordoned off the ground and arrested five people who were ferrying around 250 kg flesh in a jeep.

“The gang used to skin cows at remote locations on the city’s outskirts and ferry the flesh in a fourwheeler. They sold the meat in Lucknow for ₹80 to ₹110 per kg,” said Neeraj Ojha, station officer, Saadatganj police station.

“Stray cows on the roadside, especially on highways, were the prime targets of the gang. The accused ferried the cattle in a jeep to remote locations on city outskirts. After skinning the animals, the gang used to sell the flesh in the city,” added Ojha.

In the recent past, this is probably the biggest seizure of cow flesh in the state capital.