Cow smugglers mow down cop in UP; one killed, 2 held in encounter
A cow smuggler was killed and two were injured in an encounter with police in Jaunpur district of Uttar Pradesh, officials said on Sunday.
The encounter broke out while the three cow smugglers and their associates were trying to flee after hitting a police head constable with their pick-up van during checking at Khujji turn on the intervening night of Saturday and Sunday. The head constable succumbed to his injuries.
“On the intervening night of May 14 and May 15, cow smugglers deliberately hit Pratima Singh, the in-charge of Parauganj police outpost under Jalalpur station (in Jaunpur district), and other police personnel with their vehicle with the intention to kill them.
“Pratima Singh was seriously injured and is undergoing treatment at the trauma centre in Varanasi,” Uttar Pradesh Director General of Police (DGP) Prashant Kumar said in a statement.
Following the incident, instructions were issued to conduct a checking campaign against cow smugglers across the district.
In line with the order, Inspector Satya Prakash Singh of Chandwak police station was on checking duty with other personnel at Khujji turn on May 17. The team intercepted cow smugglers, who were going towards Varanasi from Azamgarh in a pick-up vehicle, on the Azamgarh-Varanasi road at 11.50 pm, the DGP said.
On being asked to stop, the cow smugglers tried to run over the police team “with the intention to kill them”, he said.
The criminals hit Head Constable Durgesh Kumar Singh (34) with their vehicle and started fleeing towards Varanasi. On receiving information about the incident, the entire police force was mobilised. Personnel from the nearby police station along with the Special Operations Group (SOG) started chasing the cow smugglers, according to the statement.
Head Constable Durgesh Kumar Singh was seriously injured and rushed to the Varanasi trauma centre. He died during treatment, DGP Kumar said.
While chasing the cow smugglers, the police team reached Tala Bela village under Cholapur police station in Varanasi district. After reaching the village, the cow smugglers abandoned the pick-up vehicle and started moving towards Chandwak in Jaunpur on two motorcycles.
In the Chandwak police station area, the cow smugglers opened fire at the police team "with the intention to kill them". Police retaliated and Salman (24), a resident of Jaunpur, sustained a bullet injury in the chest. He died during treatment at the district hospital, Kumar said.
Two cow smugglers -- Golu of Chandauli district and Narendra Yadav of Varanasi -- sustained bullet injuries in their legs and were arrested. Three other cow smugglers -- Rahul Yadav, Raju Yadav and Azad Yadav -- managed to flee and teams have been deployed to arrest them, the DGP said.
