The Baghpat area of Uttar Pradesh has been gripped with crimes of cow slaughter, illegal meat business and mob violence by cow smugglers and their kin since Wednesday.
On Wednesday morning, several cow carcasses were found dumped in the Luhari village under Bohle police station. The case had created tension in the area as locals had alleged police inaction over rampant cow slaughter cases.
As per reports, locals and Hindu groups have alleged police inaction in several such cases. Local villagers in Luhari had protested at the spot and demanded immediate action against police officials. SP Pratap Gopendra and DM Shakuntala Gautam reportedly reached the spot and taking action, had suspended the entire staff of Bohla station, including two inspectors, one head constable and three constables.
Reports had mentioned that 23 such incidents had happened in the Baghpat area in 2019 alone. There have been several cases of illegal slaughter, discarding of cow carcasses and cow smuggling.
In May, nine cow carcasses were found in the Singhavali and Naya Gaon area in Baghpat. They were discarded after slaughter. Many other villages have also reported dumped cow carcasses allegedly after slaughter by cow smugglers.
After protests at Luhari village, police have taken some action and investigated some local hotels of the area for alleged purchasing of cow meat. As per a report in Jansatta, three police teams have been formed. 13 people from various restaurants and meat supplying agencies have been apprehended so far. The police have stated that the detained individuals have so far been unable to tell where they buy meat from.
Meerut IG Alok Singh has reportedly stated that incidents of cow slaughter will not be tolerated and police officials in the area will face action if such incidents happen in their area.
In another incident, a police team that had gone to arrest two absconding cow smugglers Salman and Farman from their village in Barnava was attacked, beaten up and held hostage by the family members and relatives of the cow smugglers on Wednesday evening.
Read: Uttar Pradesh: police arrested a man with 3 quintals cow meat from Pukhrayan town
As per reports, ASI Madan Singh, Sattar Ali, Head Constable Gajendra Singh and three constables had reached the Barnava village in search of the two absconding cow smugglers Salman and Farman.
The accused, their family members, including the women reportedly surrounded the policemen and started pelting stones. The police team was held hostage by the family members of Salman and Farman.
The police team could only be rescued after teams from other police stations reached the spot. The additional forces finally managed to rescue the officials and arrest the accused Salman, Farman and Firoze. The three brothers.
The injured policemen were sent to the district hospital for treatment.
Read: Ayodhya: Severed head of cows discarded after slaughter, police arrest 4
It is notable here that the Barnava village has been in news previously for crimes related to cow smuggling and slaughter. In June, 9 persons were arrested from the same village after repeated cases of cow smuggling and slaughter. The police had stated that the gang used to smuggle cows, or capture stray cows, take them to the riverside in the forest to slaughter and smuggle the meat in surrounding areas.
The Uttar Pradesh police had announced last year that gangster act and NSA will be applied on repeat offenders in cow smuggling and slaughter cases. Despite this, the criminals seem to be far from afraid.