Patna: Villagers in Bihar walked away with dozens of cattle after suspected vigilantes intercepted a truck loaded with livestock and later freed them on the road.
The incident took place in Kaimur district of Bihar on Friday.
Acting on information that a vehicle loaded with 25 cows and calves was on its way to a Kolkata butchery, suspected vigilantes intercepted the truck near Ratwar village and forced the driver to unload the bovines — after assaulting him.
However, soon after the cows and calves were freed, there was a mad scramble among local framers to grab them and carry the bovines home.
Within no time, most of the “freed” cows were gone.
Few animals recovered
After getting a report, local police reached the spot and recovered a few animals, which were handed over to the local cowsheds.
“We have launched a drive against cattle smugglers and no one will be spared,” a local police official Satyendra Ram told the local media.
Last month, suspected cow vigilantes assaulted two youths in Rohtas district for transporting beef, leaving them seriously wounded.
The young men, identified as Noor Mohammad and Shakeel Quraishi, were carrying beef on their bike to supply in the local Akorhi Gola market when a group of cow vigilantes caught them and assaulted them badly. Both sustained serious injuries in the incident.
Driver assaulted
There has been a sudden increase in beef-related attacks in recent months, causing panic among members of the Muslim community.
In August, a group of cow vigilantes badly assaulted a truck driver and his assistant in Bihar’s Bhojpur district on suspicion of carrying beef.
They also seized the vehicle. The same month, supporters of Hindu nationalist outfit Bajrang Dal assaulted three people for carrying cattle for slaughter in Vaishali district of Bihar.
The attackers dragged three men out of a vehicle carrying a bull and assaulted them badly in full public view, leaving them severely injured. The injured persons were admitted to a local hospital for treatment.
