200 cattle seized, eight held

Odisha Channel Bureau Jajpur, Feb 3: As many as 200 cattle were seized and eight persons arrested from NH-5 near Panikoili here in the wee hours on Monday.Police also seized four trucks in which the illegal cattle transportation was being done. The arrested have been identified as Shaik Tapu, Shaik Manga, Shaik Ajgar Ali, Shaik Abdul Majid, Shaik Kalimuddin, Shaik Raj Mahammad, Shaik Chanu and Shaik Rehman.Police said as many as 200 cattle in four trucks were heading towards Kolkata from Kendrapara areas by the cattle smuggling racket.Jajpur Superintendent of Police who had been to a surprise visit to the toll gate on National Highway No-5 near Panikoili seized the cattle laden trucks.Later, he freed the cattle from the truck and handed over them to local police station.The recovered cattle are kept in local Goshala (cow-shelter) in the district.“The cattle were seized and eight persons in this connect ion arrested after they failed to produce valid papers,” said Jajpur SP Anup Kumar Sahu.The cattle were being taken to Kolkata in neighbouring West Bengal state from Kendrapara areas, the SP said.The cattle smugglers, all are hailing from Bhadrak are being interrogated, he added.It is suspected that the network for such cow-smuggling rackets is spread in different districts of the state along with cow smuggling chain in West Bengal.Police said the cattle were illegally transported violating the Transport of Animals Rules, 1978, the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960 and other provisions of IPC.Moreover, there were no medical certifications and the purchase challans for the cattle loaded in the trucks under seize.The arrested were forwarded to the court and later remanded to judicial custody after their bail applications were rejected.A case has been registered and further investigation is on.