The Bulandshahr police on Saturday arrested eight members of a gang allegedly involved in lifting cattle and slaughtering them for selling beef and recovered several illegal arms from them.
The arrests were made by a joint team of Jahangirabad Police station and the district Crime Branch from Rivada village in the Arnia police station area after an early-hour gun battle in which two members of the gang, including its leader Akbar, was injured.
Akbar, involved in trampling a police constable to death in 2010 under the wheels of his cattle-laden mini truck at a police barricade on being asked to stop for checking, was arrested along with his accomplice Mehndi Hasan, Bulandshahr SP Santosh Singh said.
The incident in which constable Mahendra Singh was trampled to death had taken place at Chola traffic intersection under Kotwali police station area, the SP recalled.
Arrested after suffering gunshot wounds in the exchange of fire, the two were sent to a hospital for treatment, said Singh, adding, six other members of the gang were arrested during subsequent raids at various places.
The police team also recovered five country-made pistols and several live cartridges, along with a cow and several cattle slaughtering equipment from them, the police superintendent said.
Two of the gang members managed to escape, he added.
This inter-district gang was involved in lifting cattle, including stray ones, and then slaughtering them to sell their beef, the SP said.
There are 14 criminal cases, including those of murder, attempt to murder and cow slaughtering, are lodged against Akbar and Hasan, in various police stations of Bulandshahr and Aligarh districts, the SP said.
Singh identified other arrested gangsters as Aashu, Salman, Bundu and Daroga, all residents of Arania and Tyyeb of Kotawali Dehat area with eight criminal cases lodged against Aashu, two against Salman and one each against Billu and Bundu.
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