Four ‘cattle smugglers’ arrested in Greater Noida

GREATER NOIDA: Police arrested four men for allegedly smuggling cattle and rescued three calves from a vehicle in Dadri on Thursday night.

Police identified the suspects as 26-year-old Jameel (a resident of Hapur), 25-year-old Rizwan (Meerut), 28-year-old Waseem (Bulandshahr), and Rashid. A country-made gun and a knife were recovered from them.

Deputy Commissioner of Police (Greater Noida) Rajesh Kumar Singh said, “Acting on a tip, a Dadri police team intercepted the vehicle near Sector Omicron. When police signalled the car to stop, the suspects opened fire at them and tried to escape.”

All the three suspects suffered injuries to their legs in the incident and were arrested. Rashid and another accomplice, Bilal had managed to escape but was nabbed late Friday.

Police said the suspects allegedly told them that they were taking the animals to Bulandshahr. As per police, the suspects were allegedly involved in an illegal cattle slaughter incident in Dadri on January 6, 2020. Vikas Bhati, a resident and complainant in the case, had said that animal bones were dumped in his the village.

A case was registered against unidentified persons under sections 3, 5 and 8 of the Uttar Pradesh Prevention of Cow Slaughter Act, 1955 and Dadri police announced a ₹25,000 reward on the arrest of suspects in the case.

Police said the suspects were produced before a court and sent to judicial custody.