Jammu, Apr 24:
Five persons were arrested on the charges of bovine smuggling and as many as 62 cattle rescued in Udhampur and Samba districts of the Jammu region, police said Wednesday. A police party intercepted 55 cattle being taken on foot towards Kashmir without a valid permission. They were intercepted near Sangoor Chowk on the Jammu-Srinagar national highway in Udhampur district Tuesday evening, a police spokesperson said. He said the cattle were rescued and the suspects, Hamid Khan and Mohammad Mashboor, arrested. Two of their accomplice managed to flee and efforts are on to nab them, the spokesman said. He said four more cattle were rescued from nearby Jakhani Chowk in Udhampur on Tuesday. The driver, Ghulam Rasool, was arrested and police also seized the vehicle in which the cattle were being taken, the spokesman said. In another incident, two persons, Bittu Ram and Vaid Parkash, were arrested after police intercepted a Srinagar-bound vehicle at Mansar in Samba and rescued three cattle. These were being transported without any permission, the spokesman added.
The spokesperson said the police in Udhampur has arrested over 100 people on the charges of bovine smuggling, rescuing 662 cattle, in the past three-and-a-half months.
“The police have also seized 55 vehicles (used in cattle smuggling),” he added.
