SUBHASH MISHRA
Dhanbad, Oct 18: The Dhanbad police seized ten trucks packed with cows, calves and buffaloes on the Govidpur- Sahebganj main road near Bhutgaria under East Tundi police station, around 38 km away from district headquarters on late night of Monday.
East Tundi police station officer-in-charge Kuldeep Raj Toppo said that over a dozen people including three drivers were arrested on the spot. However, as police intercepted the trucks, seven drivers managed to escape taking advantage of the darkness.
After getting a tip-off, the East Tundi police laid the net on Govidpur – Sahebgaj road on Monday evening and finally at around 2 am, all trucks were seen coming. The police then seized all of them on the spot.
“The arrested persons are being interrogated. Legal action would be initiated against them after completing the formalities,” the police said.
The arrested persons claimed that all cattle are mulching and were being carried to Kumardhubi of Dhanbad from the Ara district of Bihar. But the police said that the Govindpir-Sahebganj highway does not go towards Kumardhubi near the Jharkhand-Bengal border.
As the police have intensified checking at Maithon Toll Plaza near the Bengal border, smugglers have made the Govindpur-Sahebganj road a new route for their nefarious work.
Since cattle were packed in all 10 trucks, police could not count the number of cows and calves. Till 1.30 pm today, the cattle were still packed in trucks at the East Tundi police station for sending them to the Gaushala.
“Around 160-170 cows, calves and buffalo are packed in trucks. Since Ganga Gaushal Katras refused to accept them, now the police are preparing to hand them over to Kouwabandh Gausala after a medical checkup,” said officer-in-charge Kuldeep Raj.
Within a week, this is the second time when police have seized cows being smuggled to Bengal from different districts of Bihar. Last week, they seized six pickup vans loaded with cows and calved at Katras.
