Cow carcass, 50 kg beef recovered in Alwar district, three women arrested

A cow carcass and around 50 kg beef were recovered from a house in Govind Garh area of Rajasthan’s Alwar district on Monday and three women were arrested, police said.

The incident happened about a week after Rakbar Khan was lynched on suspicion of cow smuggling at Lalawandi village in Ramgarh area of Alwar district.

“We got information around 7:45 am that a cow is being slaughtered at a butcher’s house near Badbada Mod (turn). We reached the spot within 10 minutes and saw that three women are packing meat in a polythene and weighing it,” said Roop Narayan Sharma, assistant sub-inspector at Govind Garh police station.

“We asked them what they were packing. One of the women replied that a buffalo was slaughtered and they were packing its meat. We called the regional veterinary officer to confirm whether the meat was of a cow or a buffalo. The officer confirmed that it was beef. He also sent a sample to FSL, Jaipur.”

The three women have been identified as Akbari Qureshi, Shabina, and Bhoori, the ASI said. “During the preliminary questioning, Akbari admitted that her son Shakeel Qureshi and his friend Sattar (who is a butcher) had brought a cow’s calf yesterday and we have slaughtered it for the first time,” said Sharma who is investigating the case.

An FIR was registered against five people under sections of Rajasthan Bovine Animal Act. The three women were arrested and the hunt for absconding Shakeel and Sattar is on, police said.

Reacting to the incident, Ramgarh MLA Gyandev Ahuja said, “We treat cows like our mother. Cow slaughter should be kept in the category of terrorism and special task force should be made to deal with this issue.” He added, “The Meo Muslims of Haryana are involved in the business of buying and selling beef.”

The market of Govind Garh was closed for a few hours over the resentment at the cow slaughter. The situation is under control, said police officials.

Cases of smuggling of cows to alleged illegal slaughterhouses in Haryana have been reported in Alwar and Bharatpur.

The state government has established police outposts in the area to prevent cow smuggling. Self-styled cow protection groups are active in the region and carry out night patrols to thwart cow smuggling attempts.

Before Rakbar was lynched, trader Pehlu Khan was beaten to death in Alwar in April 2017 allegedly by cow vigilantes while he was transporting cows to his home at Nuh in Haryana.

A group of men transporting cows in November last were reportedly attacked in the same district allegedly by cow vigilantes, resulting in the death of a man identified as Umar Mohammed. A month later, Taleem Khan, an alleged cow smuggler, was killed in a shootout with police.

First Published: Jul 30, 2018 22:02 IST