Uttar Pradesh: 8 held, 96 bulls seized during raids in two Gonda villages

“An FIR was lodged against unidentified persons under the UP Prevention of Cow Slaughter and Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Acts,” added Rakesh Singh.

A few hours later, another raid took place in Kishundaspur village.

Tarabganj Circle Officer Krishna Chandra Singh that acting on a tip-off, a police team rushed to a field in the village and spotted people loading bulls onto three vehicles. The accused tried to escape and also opened fire, but the team overpowered them and arrested eight persons, including village head Devendra Baksh. The field where animals were being loaded into the vehicles is located close to Baksh’s residence, police said.

“During questioning, the accused told police that they had collected the animals from a neighbouring village and were sending them to West Bengal via Faizabad and Bihar. A case has been lodged on charges rioting, attempt to murder and the UP Prevention of Cow Slaughter, Prevention of Cruelty to Animals and Arms Acts. Police recovered a countrymade pistol from the accused,” said Rakesh Singh.

All eight persons were produced in a local court Saturday, which sent them to judicial custody, said Gonda Superintendent of Police Rakesh Prakash Singh. He added, police are collecting background of all eight accused.

Two of the accused are from Shamli and Faizabad districts. “We gave 27 of the animals to local residents and the remaining 68 were sent to a gaushala in Sant Kabir Nagar,” said Rakesh Singh.