Chased by cops, cattle 'smuggler' dies as van flips in UP; six injured

GURGAON: An alleged cattle smuggler died and six of his companions were injured as a pickup van carrying cows overturned on NH-8 at Panchgaon on Thursday morning while being chased by police. The van, police said, flipped when its driver tried to force it across the central median to throw the cops off its trail.

In Jan, cops and a cow protection force team were involved in a similar high-speed chase of suspected cattle smugglers on the Kundli–Manesar–Palwal (KMP) Expressway for nearly two hours. The suspects had allegedly pushed out at least three cattle from the vehicle, even as the vehicles chasing them swerved to avoid hitting the animals.

On Thursday, a patrol unit of the police's cow protection cell spotted a few men loading cattle on the van around 4am near Manesar bus stand. As cops closed in on them, a member of the police cow protection cell said, the van sped towards the highway and drove towards Panchgaon.

"The van zoomed ahead, and, at one point, it was well out of our sight. We picked up its trail about 8km away as there was a traffic slowdown near Panchgaon Chowk. On spotting the police vehicle, the men tried to cross on to the Jaipur-Gurgaon side of the highway. As they attempted to drive across the central median, the van overturned," police spokesperson Sandeep Kumar said.

Six men in the van were caught by the team and later arrested. "Body of the seventh suspect, later identified as Shehjad, was found dead under the overturned vehicle. It seems he fell off the van and was crushed under it when the vehicle flipped," the officer said.

The men — Munna, Mafik Ali, Mubarik, Shaukin alias Sunda, Irshad alias Langa and Salam of Nuh and neighbouring UP districts — were charged under BNS sections 106 (causing death due to negligence) and 281 (rash driving). They were also charged under Section 13 of the Haryana Gauvansh Sanrakshan and Gausamvardhan Act, which entail rigorous imprisonment for up to three years, extending to 10 years, and a fine. The case was registered at Manesar police station.

"The accused resorted to animal cruelty and were smuggling cows. The driver, Shaukin, was driving in a rash and negligent manner that led to the death of one of their associates in a crash," an officer at Manesar police station said.

According to police, Shehzad was facing criminal charges in five cases registered in Gurgaon and Nuh, while van driver Shaukin has 18 cases registered against him across Gurgaon, Nuh, Rewari and Rohtak. Of the other five, Irshad is facing three criminal cases, Mafiq Ali and Mubarik each have one case.

The men are to be produced before a local court on Friday. Meanwhile, four cows were rescued from the van, police said. The cattle were found tied with ropes and had sustained some injuries when the vehicle overturned. The van was also impounded.